GUWAHATI: Nearly half of India’s ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves, ranging from murder and crimes against women to financial irregularities, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW).

The analysis, based on 643 self-sworn affidavits filed with the Election Commission between 2020 and 2025, found that 302 ministers, or 47 per cent, face criminal charges, with 174 accused of serious offences.

ADR noted that these findings came days after the Centre introduced three bills seeking to disqualify prime ministers, chief ministers, and ministers arrested for over 30 days on grave charges. At the Union level, 29 of 72 ministers (40 per cent) face criminal cases. In 11 Assemblies — including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Puducherry — over 60 per cent of ministers face pending cases. By contrast, ministers in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, and Uttarakhand reported none.

Party-wise data revealed stark differences. The TDP had 96 per cent of its ministers facing cases, of which 57 per cent were serious. The DMK followed, with 87 per cent of its ministers declaring charges. The Congress recorded 74 per cent, while the BJP, with the largest ministerial base, had 40 per cent of its 336 ministers reporting cases. AAP had 69 per cent of its ministers facing charges.

The study also highlighted the wealth profile of India’s ministers. Collectively, they declared assets worth ₹23,929 crore, averaging ₹37.21 crore per minister. At least 36 ministers were identified as billionaires. Karnataka led with eight billionaire ministers, followed by Andhra Pradesh with six and Maharashtra with four. Party-wise, the BJP had 14 billionaire ministers, the Congress 11, and the TDP six.

The richest minister in India is Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani of the TDP, representing Guntur in the Lok Sabha, with assets worth over ₹5,705 crore. He was followed by Karnataka Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar with ₹1,413 crore and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with ₹931 crore. At the other end, Tripura minister Sukla Charan Noatia declared assets worth just ₹2 lakh.

The report also noted gender disparity, with only 63 women among 643 ministers, and highlighted that 71 per cent of ministers hold graduate or higher degrees.