Delay in convicted BJP MLA’s disqualification upsets Opposition in Rajasthan

The Congress has sought the immediate intervention of Governor Haribhau Bagade in the matter. File

The delay in the disqualification of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kanwar Lal Meena, whose conviction in a 20-year-old case was upheld by the High Court, has upset the Opposition Congress in Rajasthan. The Congress has sought an immediate intervention of Governor Haribhau Bagade in the matter.

Mr. Meena, elected from Baran district’s Anta, was sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment in a case of threatening a Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer with a revolver and damaging public property in Jhalawar. A sessions court convicted the MLA in December 2020, while the High Court upheld the order on May 1.

Mr. Meena moved a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, which has directed him to surrender in the trial court in two weeks. The Congress has contended that Mr. Meena’s membership of the Assembly should have been cancelled forthwith after the high court’s judgment as per the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Section 8(3) of the Act provides for the disqualification of a lawmaker following conviction for an offence with a two-year sentence or more. Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani has reportedly sought the opinion of Advocate-General and legal experts in the matter, but his decision is still awaited.

Mr. Meena, who has to surrender in the court by May 21, was not elected to the State Assembly at the time of the crime and already had 15 criminal cases against him. In 2016, he led a mob which allegedly attacked the activists of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, founded by Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy, during a march in Jhalawar district.

A two-time MLA, Mr. Meena first won the election from Jhalawar’s Manohar Thana in 2013, and later from Anta in 2023.

Congress MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tika Ram Jully, has shot off a letter to the Governor, while accusing the Speaker of deliberately delaying Mr. Meena’s disqualification process. “As per Article 191 of the Constitution and the provisions of the RP Act, an elected representative sentenced to more than two years stands automatically disqualified from holding office,” Mr. Jully said.

Mr. Jully said the Speaker’s inaction in the matter was a “blatant disregard of constitutional duty and democratic norms”. He urged the Governor to uphold the constitutional mandate and give direction for Mr. Meena’s disqualification with effect from May 1, when the high court had upheld his conviction and sentence.

Mr. Jully pointed out that a similar decision was taken in 2016 when Bahujan Samaj Party MLA B.L. Kushwaha was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case. Mr. Kushwaha was disqualified and a by-election was held in his constituency, Dholpur. The high court had also rejected his plea to allow him to cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha election when he was incarcerated before his conviction.

However, Jhalawar Bar Association president Ram Maheshwari said the Supreme Court would hear Mr. Meena’s SLP for admission after he surrenders. Any decision on Mr. Meena’s membership of the Assembly would be subject to the judgment of the Supreme Court until his petition challenging the high court’s verdict remains pending in the apex court, Mr. Maheshwari said.