Alarming number of criminals reaching Parliament, State Assembly: Allahabad High Court denies bail to BSP MP Atul Rai

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court denied bail to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Member of Parliament (MP) Atul Rai in relation to an abetment of suicide case of a woman who immolated herself outside the Supreme Court last year [Atul Kumar Singh Alias Atul Rai v State of UP]..Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh while refusing to entertain the bail application stated that an alarming number of criminals reach parliament and State Assembly and it is a wake up call for all."Parliament and Election Commission of India are required to take effective measures to wean away criminals from politics and break unholy nexus between criminal politicians and bureaucrats," the single-judge directed. .The charges against Rai and his co-accused were of abetment of the suicide of a rape victim and her friend, who had set themselves on fire outside the Supreme Court gates on August 16 last year, and died subsequently.The 24-year-old victim woman had accused Rai of raping her at his Varanasi home in 2019..The Court observed that Rai had 23 criminal cases to his credit so far, and these included cases of kidnapping, murder, rape and other heinous offences."Present accused-applicant is a ‘Bahubali, a criminal turned politician which is evident from his long criminal history of heinous offences given in para 38 of the affidavit," the single-judge noted. .The Court, in this regard, noted that it was unfortunate and the greatest irony that as many as 43 per cent Lok Sabha members elected in the 2019 general elections had criminal cases pending against them."If the politicians are law breakers, citizens cannot expect accountable and transparent governance and the society governed by the rule of law be an utopian idea," the Court stated. .Justice Singh was of the opinion that after independence, with each election, the role of identities such as caste, community, ethnicity, gender, religion etc. was become increasingly prominent when giving tickets to winnable candidates. "These identities coupled with money and muscle power has made entry of criminals in politics easy and every political party without exception (may be with some difference in degree and extent) uses these criminals to win elections," the Court opined. .No one can dispute that present day politics is caught in crime, identity, patronage, muscle and money network, the judge said while discussing that the nexus between crime and politics was a serious threat to democratic values and governance based on rule of law.It was pointed out that earlier ‘Bahubalis’ and other criminals would provide support to candidates on various considerations, but now criminals themselves were entering politics and even getting elected. "Confirmed criminal history sheeters and even those who are behind bars are given tickets by different political parties and surprisingly some of them get elected as well," the Court further observed..Therefore, it is the parliament's responsibility to show its collective will to restrain criminals from entering politics..In relation to the case at hand, it was pointed out that even though Rai's co-accused had been granted bail by the court, his case was different from the co-accused and considering all circumstances, bail was rejected..Advocate Kaustubh Singh appeared for the applicant. .[Read Order]