Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 29: Election authorities in Kashmir have registered an FIR against former Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct, officials said today.
The FIR has been registered against Mehbooba for violating Section 144 after she and her party workers held a protest sit-in in the Bijbehara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, the officials said.
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The PDP president termed the registration of the FIR against her as “amusing”.
“Amusing to find an FIR filed against me for apparently flouting MCC. This is the price PDP has paid for speaking truth to power. Our protest was against GoI in cahoots with local administration for detaining hundreds of PDP polling agents and workers in the hours leading up to voting,” she said.
The officials said the protest was a “gross violation” of the MCC.
“The huge group of PDP workers also blocked the main road and staged a protest at main stop Bijbehara (for) more than one hour which amounts (to) violations of the Section 144 CrPC which was imposed in the constituency,” the FIR said.
Election authorities had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC from 6 pm on May 23 till 6 pm on May 25 in the wake of the polling in the constituency and to uphold the sanctity of democratic principles.
The prohibitory order imposed a ban on unlawful assembly as per Section 144 of the IPC and any procession or rally to prevent any law and order problem.
Earlier, Mehbooba’s daughter and Media advisor to president Iltija Mufti termed the registration of an FIR against her mother as an “intimidation”, but said they will not take it lying down.
She said such tactics by the administration will not stop the party from speaking truth.
“We will not kneel. We are here to speak the truth,” she added.