For perhaps the first time, a sitting Member of Parliament has been convicted for bribing voters during the 2019 general elections.
TRS Lok Sabha MP Kavitha Maloth and her associate were convinced by a special sessions court for MP and MLA cases in Hyderabad on Saturday.
The Lok Sabha MP from Mahbubabad and her aide, Shaukat Ali - who is incidentally the first accused, were sentenced to six months in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. The court has granted them bail to file an appeal before a higher court.
Ms Kavitha will appeal in the high court, news agency PTI reported.
Ali had been caught by a flying team squad distributing cash to people in the parliamentary seat. A case was filed under the Burgampahad police station limits.
The special sessions court meant to expedite criminal cases against elected representatives was set up in March 2018 and has so far convicted BJP MLA from Hyderabad, Raja Singh, for assaulting a police officer, and TRS MLA Danam Nagender for inciting an aide to assault a government official.
