SRINAGAR, May 29: Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has been booked under an FIR by election authorities in Kashmir for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), officials confirmed on Wednesday.
The FIR stems from an incident where Mehbooba Mufti and her party workers staged a protest sit-in in the Bijbehara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, purportedly contravening Section 144.
In response to the FIR, Mufti dismissed the allegations as “amusing,” attributing them to her party’s vocal criticism of the government’s actions. She maintained that the protest aimed to address the detainment of hundreds of PDP polling agents and workers leading up to the voting process.
Mufti’s protest outside a police station in Anantnag district during polling for the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary seat in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections reportedly drew ire from election authorities, who deemed it a “gross violation” of the MCC.
The FIR highlighted that the protest, which blocked the main road in Bijbehara for over an hour, contravened the prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC imposed by election authorities to maintain order during the constituency’s polling.
Election authorities had imposed prohibitory orders to uphold the sanctity of democratic principles, including bans on unlawful assembly and processions, during the specified period.
As tensions escalate amid electoral controversies, Mufti’s legal troubles underscore the delicate balance between political expression and adherence to electoral regulations in the region.
