Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP from Mahabubabad Maloth Kavitha was on Saturday sentenced to imprisonment for six months, besides a fine of Rs 10,000 for allegedly bribing voters during the 2019 parliamentary elections in Telangana.
A local court in Mahabubabad, which has been probing the case of electoral malpractices by the MPs and MLAs as per the Supreme Court directions, awarded the sentence convicting the MP after conducting the trial for the last two years.
During the electioneering for 2019 general elections, a case was registered against Kavitha by the Election Commission authorities in Burgampahad police station, for allegedly distributing money among the voters to buy their votes.
The flying squad of the Election Commission caught one Shaukat Ali, said to be a follower of the TRS MP candidate, while he was distributing money among the voters.
During the investigation, Shaukat Ali admitted to have distributed money at her behest. He also gave a statement in the court to that effect.
The court, which conducted hearings for two years, delivered the judgement on Saturday, convicting the MP and sentencing her to six months’ imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 10,000.
The MP was, however, granted bail from imprisonment after she paid the fine of Rs 10,000. She is likely to go for an appeal in the high court.