In the sixth round of countrywide voting taking place today in 117 of 543 parliamentary constituencies in India’s staggered general elections, one in six candidates faces criminal charges.

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a civil society election watchdog group, 15 per cent, or 321, of 2,071 candidates hoping to become MPs face criminal cases. Of these, 204 stand accused of murder, attempted murder, robbery and crimes against women in addition to a plethora of assorted charges, such as electoral misconduct and fostering sectarian tension.

Indian law requires electoral candidates to disclose all pending criminal charges against them and the ADR study is based on this data.

Political analysts estimate that once the ADR completes its scrutiny after the ninth and final round of polling on May 12th, the proportion of alleged lawbreakers will almost certainly top that of the 2009 election.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), widely tipped to be the winner when results are announced on May 16th, is fielding the largest number of candidates with criminal records, averaging about 40 per cent.The incumbent Congress Party and smaller regional parties follow, with marginally fewer criminal aspirants.

Despite the seriousness of the charges against them, however, it is highly unlikely that many, if any, will face speedy legal closure in India’s slow judicial system.

There are more than 40 million cases pending in Indian courts which, at a conservative estimate, would take more than 470 years to adjudicate. Consequently, politicians facing criminal prosecution, including those on remand in jail, remain eligible to contest provincial and parliamentary polls.

Over the past five years, at least 30 have been elected to office from their jail cells as they awaited trial. Some were even provided with additional security in jail as they claimed to be under threat from rival politicians. Once elected they were legally permitted to attend the legislature and were escorted back and forth from jail.

“Criminality is a serious problem in Indian politics and all major parties are implicated,” the ADR’s Jagdeep Chhoker said. Politicians, he claimed, were not overly concerned and reform was far away.

Currently, 162 MPs in the outgoing parliament, or about a third of the 543-member house elected in 2009, stand accused of crimes ranging from murder to rape and criminal intimidation. However, the ADR states that candidates with criminal records are twice as likely to win elections as those without any such charges.