Jaipur: The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on Friday terminated the membership of BJP MLA Kanwar Lal Meena after he was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for pointing a pistol at a sub-divisional magistrate.
Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani disqualified the Anta MLA under Article 191(1)(E) of the Constitution and Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1951. Devnani said the termination of Meena’s membership will be effective from the date of his conviction.
Meena was sentenced to three years by the court for pointing a pistol at an SDM. He had appealed against his conviction in the High Court and Supreme Court but in vain. The Congress has been demanding to cancel Meena’s Assembly membership for a long time.
Devnani said he has followed the entire legal process in the case and did not succumb to political pressure. He said before taking the decision, he took legal opinion from the state’s Advocate General. “When an MLA is cases of convicted, his/her membership is automatically considered terminated and this decision has been taken in accordance with the court’s decision,” he clarified.
Devnani said under Article 177 of the Indian Constitution, a state’s Advocate General has the right to participate in the proceedings of the Assembly and give his/her opinion in such cases. Meena, a two-time MLA from Anta and Manohar Thana, was sentenced to three years imprisonment on charges of threatening the 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 he/she is sentenced for more than two years.
