Latest news with #SupremeCourt-stipulated
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Convicted for pointing gun at official's head in 2005, Rajasthan BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena's Assembly membership terminated
Three weeks after the Rajasthan High Court directed BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena to surrender immediately, and almost two weeks after the Supreme Court dismissed his petition, the Assembly membership of the Anta MLA was formally terminated on Friday. With the Supreme Court-stipulated two-week relief coming to an end, the convicted MLA surrendered before a Manohar Thana court in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district on May 21. In a notification, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani said Meena's membership has been terminated from the date of his conviction. Meena was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in a 2005 case where he had threatened a public official with a revolver. The development comes on a day when the Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully filed a petition in the High Court against the delay in terminating Meena's membership. Since the High Court upheld his conviction earlier this month, Congress leaders have accused Speaker Devnani of partisanship, citing the delay. Jully said that the party wrote to the Speaker five times, apart from writing letters to the Chief Secretary, the Election Commission, and meeting the Governor. 'Satyamev Jayate, today the truth has won, the Constitution has won. They took 23 days to follow the Constitution, which should have been followed on day one itself. The Congress party wants a rule of the Constitution in the state and the country. But the manner in which Meena's file was moved was quite a sight. We had to struggle so much,' Jully said Friday. On Friday, Devnani said that 'as soon as the legal opinion of the Advocate General was received at 10:30 am, Meena was declared as disqualified.' Devnani said that he 'does not work under any kind of pressure' and that he takes 'decisions in accordance with law and justice only after studying every aspect related to any matter. Even before this case, the Speakers of the Vidhan Sabha have taken a lot of time on many issues related to the Vidhan Sabha.' Following Friday's decision, Devnani asked the Congress party to desist from doing politics over the issue. The case in which Meena has been disqualified pertains to February 2005, when Ramniwas Mehta, then an RAS officer and posted as Sub Divisional Officer, Aklera, was informed of a group of people in Manohar Thana, Jhalawar, blocking the road to demand re-poll in a sarpanch election. Half an hour after Mehta and others reached the spot, Meena arrived with 6-7 men in a vehicle, took out a revolver and allegedly aimed it at Mehta's head, asking him to 'announce a re-poll within two minutes or get killed.' Mehta, as per records, told Meena that 'a revolver can kill but not enforce a re-poll.' Mehta, promoted as an IAS officer, is currently posted as Secretary, Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC). During the hearing in the Supreme Court, the three-member Bench was told that Meena had 27 cases against him; however, his lawyers had told The Indian Express that he was acquitted in almost all these cases. While not the first in the state, it will be a rare instance for a sitting MLA to be disqualified in Rajasthan. The last such instance was in December 2016, when the then Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal had terminated the Assembly membership of B L Kushwah, who was with the Bahujan Samaj Party, after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for 'honour' killing. For two-time MLA Meena, 50, who is considered close to former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, it might put a pause on his more direct involvement in politics; however, like Kushwah, who fielded his wife, it may not mean the end of the road. With Meena's disqualification, the Rajasthan Assembly strength comes down to 199 once again. Devnani said that a notification of vacancy in Baran's Anta constituency has been issued. The disqualification brings the BJP's Assembly strength to 118, while Congress currently has 66 MLAs, apart from 8 Independents, four of the Bharat Adivasi Party, two of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one of the Rashtriya Lok Dal. According to the Speaker, Meena has been disqualified under Article 191 (1) (E) of the Indian Constitution read with Section 8 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. As per Article 191 (1)(E), a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a State if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament. And as per Section 8 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, a legislator is disqualified if he or she is sentenced for more than two years. Additionally, they shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years after their release.
Indian Express
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Rajasthan BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena, who faces disqualification, and his 26-year, 27-case run
With the Supreme Court-stipulated two-week relief coming to an end, convicted BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena surrendered before a court in Manohar Thana in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district on Wednesday. However, there is still no word on the termination of his membership as a legislator due to his conviction, with Speaker Vasudev Devnani stating that he is taking legal opinion. Meena, a two-time MLA from Anta and Manohar Thana, was sentenced to three years on charges of threatening then Aklera town Sub-Divisional Officer Ram Niwas Mehta with a revolver in 2005. As per the Representation of the People's Act, a legislator is disqualified in case sentenced for more than two years. Meena was initially convicted in 2020, a decision that was upheld by the Rajasthan High Court earlier this month. The Supreme Court then rejected his plea challenging the conviction. Sources said the BJP is still looking at ways to circumvent the termination of Meena's Assembly membership, including by seeking the Governor's pardon or a commutation of his three-year sentence to 23 months. While the 2005 case now hangs over Meena's future, he has at least 27 cases lodged against him. An analysis by The Indian Express shows these range from rioting, assaulting public servants, promoting enmity on the basis of religion and defiling places of worship to house trespassing. In almost all these 27 cases, Meena has been acquitted at various stages, though senior advocate and former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court S Muralidhar mentioned the cases in the Supreme Court. Dismissing his petition challenging the High Court's order in the 2005 revolver case, the Supreme Court had remarked, 'Elected representatives need to discipline themselves… This is one of those rare cases where somebody has been convicted, otherwise you do everything and anything and get away with it, without any action against you.' A lawyer for Meena said Wednesday that the 2005 case will be the first instance of him serving a sentence. 'All have been decided, nothing left, except one. Only one case is left; in the rest he has either been acquitted or a raazinama (compromise) has been reached.' Meena's first case goes back to 1999, when as a youth about 25 years of age, he was accused of an attempt to murder and other crimes by one Girdhari Lal Meena in Aklera, Jhalawar. He was convicted in 2003. In his second case the same year, he faced charges under seven sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty. But in this case, a compromise was agreed upon in 2011. The subsequent cases included alleged trespassing and damage to a mosque; damaging a bus when asked for the fare; obstructing a national highway and injuring a public servant; setting fire to a complainant's tractor, motorcycle and farm equipment, and theft; setting fire to a complainant's house and looting his luggage; defiling religious books and destruction of articles in a mosque; shouting slogans against a community, and destruction of property; impersonating a public servant; assaulting Dr S D Sharma, the then assistant director with the state health department in 2011; thrashing social activists participating in a 'Jawabdehi Yatra' to demand an accountability law for government and elected officials in January 2016; apart from at least two cases for extortion. In the 2016 case, women activists under the banner of Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey's Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) had accused Meena of abuse and molestation. However, he was acquitted by a trial court and by an additional district judge too, though the case is still pending in the High Court. The last known case filed against Meena was in August 2018, when Narpat Singh, head constable at Baran's Atru police station, lodged a case under 12 IPC sections, including for 'assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty'. In his 2023 Assembly poll affidavit, Meena had listed the 2005 revolver case, the 2016 Jawabdehi Yatra case, and three cases from 2023 as pending. He had also stated he was convicted in two cases – his first ever case in 1999 and the 2005 revolver case. In 18 of the 27 cases, Meena has been accused of rioting, with 14 of them including rioting while armed with a deadly weapon. Similarly, eight cases have been lodged against him for promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, and committing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony; three cases were lodged for injuring or defiling places of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class. There are also five cases against him for destroying the Quran. Eight cases have also been lodged against Meena for assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, with four of them including voluntarily causing hurt and one for threat of injury to a public servant. In the Supreme Court, senior advocate S Muralidhar termed attacks on public servants as Meena's 'specialisation'. Meena has also been accused of or convicted for house-trespass, forgery, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint, unlawful assembly. He has also faced charges under sections of the Arms Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and Rajasthan Excise Act. On Monday, a delegation led by Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra met Governor Haribhau Bagade seeking the termination of Meena's membership. Another delegation, led by Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully, met Speaker Vasudev Devnani on Tuesday reminding him that he holds a 'constitutional post' and that 'the essence of the Constitution lies in impartiality and democratic values'. Devnani too met Bagade on Tuesday, just a day after Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma met the Governor on Monday. While these were officially cited as 'courtesy calls', the meetings have given rise to the speculation that the BJP may be hoping to seek a pardon for Meena from the Governor. Meena's lawyers said a revision petition will soon be filed in the Supreme Court. Assuring the Congress delegation of a 'quick and just decision', the Speaker's office said it has asked the state Advocate General to share his opinion, which is expected to be received by the Assembly 'in a day or two'. 'To terminate the MLA's membership, all aspects of the court's judgement have to be studied so that no injustice is done to the MLA,' Devnani said. Following Meena's surrender Wednesday, LoP Jully termed it a 'blot on democracy', saying it is unprecedented that the Speaker has not cancelled the membership even 20 days after the sentencing. However, BJP spokesperson Laxmikant Bhardwaj countered, saying: 'Politicians face a lot of cases but they are considered guilty only after the court finds them to be true. Until the court agrees, we can't hold someone as a criminal.'
