Jaipur: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday rejected the Special Leave Petition (SLP) of Baran Anta MLA, Kanwarlal Meena of the BJP, and directed him to surrender before the trial court within two weeks.
Meena was earlier sentenced to three years in prison for pointing a pistol at an SDM and destroying government property during a 2005 incident.
A SC bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and Sanjay Karol heard the case. Meena’s lawyer, Namit Saxena, argued that no revolver had been recovered and therefore, the charge of using criminal force could not be sustained. He also pointed out that the alleged video cassette, said to have been broken and burned, was never recovered.
However, the bench rejected all arguments, upholding the findings of the lower courts.
On May 1, the Rajasthan High Court upheld the conviction by the Appellate Court (ADJ, Aklera, Jhalawar), which had found Meena guilty of obstructing government work, intimidating officials, and damaging public property.
According to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, any lawmaker sentenced to more than two years in prison is disqualified from the legislature. With the High Court upholding his sentence, Meena’s legislative membership is under threat.
Following the High Court’s ruling, the Congress party approached the Assembly Secretary demanding action. A notice was then issued to Meena, requiring him to submit a SCt stay order by 12 noon on May 7.
In response, Meena’s counsel mentioned the matter before the SC, which had earlier granted a temporary stay on his surrender on May 5, but did not stay the High Court’s entire judgment.
The case relates to an incident on February 3, 2005, near the Dangipura-Rajgarh turn in Jhalawar, where villagers had blocked the road demanding re-polling for the Khatakhedi Deputy Sarpanch elections. Officials, including then SDM Ramnivas Mehta, IAS probationer Pritam B Yashwant, and Tehsildar Ramkumar, had reached the spot to control the situation.
Around half an hour later, Kanwarlal Meena arrived with his associates and allegedly pointed a pistol at the SDM, threatening to kill him if recounting was not announced.
When the SDM refused, Meena allegedly snatched and destroyed a video cassette and temporarily took away a digital camera from Pritam, returning it after 20 minutes.
Meena was acquitted by the trial court in 2018, but the Appellate Court overturned that decision, convicting him. In rejecting Meena’s appeal, the High Court noted that he had identified himself as a political figure during the incident and was expected to uphold law and order, not undermine it.
The court also pointed to his criminal background, noting that while he had been acquitted in most of the 15 criminal cases filed against him earlier, such a history could not be ignored.
(IANS)
