In a first, TRS MP Maloth Kavitha convicted for bribing voters

(This story originally appeared in on Jul 25, 2021)

In a rare instance, a sitting Member of Parliament (MP) has been convicted for bribing voters during the 2019 general election.TRS Lok Sabha MP Maloth Kavitha and her associate were on Saturday convicted by the special sessions court for MP & MLA cases at Nampally. The judge sentenced the two to undergo six-month imprisonment. The judge, however, granted them bail to file an appeal before a higher court. Kavitha represents Mahabubabad constituency in the Lok Sabha.This is the third case in recent times the special sessions court for MP & MLA cases handed out jail terms to public representatives. However, it is the first time a sitting Lok Sabha MP has been convicted and that too for bribing voters in the run up to the elections.

During the general elections in 2019, revenue officials, who were part of an election flying squad, had nabbed the MP’s aide Shaukat Ali while he was distributing cash to people (500 per head), seeking their votes in favour for Kavitha in the Burgampahad police station limits.“The flying squad caught Ali red handed. During the trial, Ali admitted he had distributed money at her behest,’’ additional public prosecutor G Narayana said.In the case, Ali was named as first accused and Kavitha as second accused.Judge Ch VRR Varaprasad, who convicted the two under Section 171-E (punishment for bribery) of the IPC, directed both the convicts to undergo six-month simple imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 each. The two were present in the court when the verdict was pronounced by the judge.Police produced officials of the flying squad and their report as evidence during the trial. When the accused Ali was put on trial, he admitted that he had distributed the money given by Kavitha to influence voters.The special sessions court, which came into existence in March 2018 after the Supreme Court directed expeditious trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs, had in the recent past convicted BJP MLA Raja Singh and TRS MLA Danam Nagender and awarded them jail terms too.Raja Singh was booked for assaulting a police officer at the Bolarum police station, while Danam Nagender was convicted for egging on his aide to assault a government official at the Banjara Hills police station.