: Impact of Criminalization:
- The law-breakers get elected as law-makers- The people who are being tried for various offences are given the opportunity to make laws for the whole country, which undermines the sanctity of the Parliament.
- Loss of public faith in Judicial machinery- It is apparent that those with political influence take advantage of their power by delaying hearings, obtaining repeated adjournments and filing innumerable interlocutory petitions to stall any meaningful progress. This questions the credibility of the judiciary.
- Politics dominated by muscle and money power- Where the rule of law is weakly enforced and social divisions are rampant, a candidate’s criminal reputation could be perceived as an asset. This brings in the culture of muscle and money power in the politics.
- Affects the efficiency of the parliament- People with such tainted backgrounds have been seen to disrupt the functioning of the Parliament, affecting its efficiency in the long run.
- Self-perpetuating- Since the parties focus on winnability of the candidate (also hampering the inner party democracy) they tend to include more and more influential elements. Thus, criminalization of politics perpetuates itself and deteriorates the overall electoral culture.