Jaipur, May 24 -- Twenty three days after the Rajasthan high court upheld BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena's conviction in a criminal case, he was disqualified from the state assembly on Friday. The assembly secretariat issued a notification stating that in light of Meena's conviction by the district court which was upheld by the Rajasthan high court and the apex court too had dismissed his special leave petition for a review, Meena stands disqualified from the membership of the state assembly, as per provisions of the Indian Constitution, section 191(1)(e) and section (8)(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani said the disqualification order was issued as soon as legal opinion from the advocate general was given at 10.30 am. He said he did not work under any pressure but took decisions only after studying all aspects and ensuring they complied with the law. He said there should be no politics in this matter. Devnani said he had sought the Advocate General's opinion the very day the high court upheld Meena's conviction. He said Meena's membership was terminated from the date of his conviction. Following the apex court's order on May 7, Meena surrendered before the additional district magistrate's court in Jhalawar on Wednesday from where he was sent to Aklera jail. With the disqualification, Meena's constituency Anta has fallen vacant. Devnani's decision to disqualify Meena came even as the leader of opposition Tikaram Jully filed a contempt petition in the Rajasthan high court on Saturday. The court admitted the petition and had fixed May 28 as the date of hearing. The Congress welcomed the decision, saying it was a victory of the supremacy of the Constitution and the law. After Meena's disqualification, Jully said, "Due to the continuous toil of the Congress party and filing of the contempt petition, finally Kanwarlal Meena who was convicted by the court in a criminal case has been disqualified." He said the Congress party had given memos to the governor and the assembly speaker in this regard but the BJP government dilly dallied on the matter which was against the basic principles of democracy and anti constitutional. Devnani, who took 23 days to arrive at a decision, had consulted the Advocate General in the matter and finally disqualified Meena after the counsel advised that there was no alternative. Meena's disqualification will be enforced from May 1. The Rajasthan high court had on May 1 upheld a lower court order sentencing the MLA to three years imprisonment in a 20 year old case pertaining to threatening a government officer and damaging government property. Meena had approached the supreme court and filed a special leave petition but the apex court on May 7 dismissed his petition and asked him to surrender within two weeks....