Jaipur, Sep 29 (IANS) Tika Ram Jully, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, condemned the state government’s efforts to preserve the membership of Kanwarlal, who was expelled from the Legislative Assembly, calling it unethical and an inappropriate use of constitutional provisions for political power.

Leader of the Opposition stated that Kanwarlal, elected from Anta on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election symbol, was sentenced to three years in prison by a subordinate court, and the subsequent High Court and Supreme Court upheld the sentence based on constitutional provisions, leaving the MLA’s membership terminated by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on May 1, 2025.

“Since then, Kanwarlal has been in jail since May 21, 2025, for over four months. Despite this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government, under the influence of its power, has improperly leveraged the powers granted to the Governor under Article 161 of the Constitution and submitted a petition for remission of Kanwarlal’s sentence to the Governor, along with its recommendation,” said Jully.

He added that it is deeply regrettable that the grounds for the remission are Kanwarlal’s participation in blood donation camps, Tiranga Yatras, and other social work.

Jully stated that he has written a letter to the Governor requesting the rejection of Kanwarlal’s pardon.

In addition, the Rajasthan Leader of the Opposition has sent a memorandum to the President, requesting the rejection of the petition submitted to the Governor. He has also written letters to Prime Minister Modi and the Union Home Minister, providing factual information about the case.

Jully explained that under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution, the Governor is empowered to commute or pardon a sentence imposed by a court. However, the Constitution generally intended such pardons to be used only for severe punishments, such as commuting a death sentence to life imprisonment or reducing the term of life imprisonment.

Jully said it was ironic that on one hand, the BJP government at the Centre is getting Parliament to pass a law that would terminate a criminal’s ministerial or chief ministerial position if he remains in jail for more than a month, while on the other hand, the state government of the same party is attempting to pardon or reduce the sentence of a habitual criminal, who has 27 cases against him and has been sentenced to three years, to two years, so that he can retain his membership in the Legislative Assembly.

He asked, “What message do we want to send to society? What message will the existence of such public representatives send to society? What kind of example do those who talk about political purity want to set for society?” This is a matter worth considering. This will encourage negative tendencies in society. Any leader of any political party will believe that no action will be taken against them, no matter what law they break, because their punishment will be pardoned sooner or later based on political reasons.

Jully stated that through her letters, he has requested the dignitaries holding constitutional positions to reject the pardon petition so that political purity is maintained and the growing dominance of individuals with criminal backgrounds in politics can be discouraged, thereby maintaining the state’s glorious and clean political tradition.

–IANS

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