The Hyderabad police on Monday registered an FIR against Madhavi Latha, BJP’s Hyderabad constituency candidate, for allegedly trespassing into a polling booth and asking some Muslim women voters to remove their burqa for identity check.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner, Ronald Rose, who is also the returning officer for Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency directed the Malakpet police to register an FIR against Madhavi Latha under Sections 186 (voluntarily obstructing a public servant from discharging of duties), 171C (voluntarily interfering in the exercise of electoral right) and, besides Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act, 505 (1)(c) (circulation of a statement with an intent to incite a class or community of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Earlier during the day, the BJP candidate visited a polling booth (No. 122) at Azampura in Malakpet assembly segment and started asking the Muslim women voters about their identity. A video of Madhavi Latha asking the Muslim women voters to remove their veil to disclose their identity has gone viral and is circulating on social media platforms. She was trying to verify if the faces of the women voters matched the photos on their voter ID Cards.

Madhavi Latha took to her social media handle on X and posted  that there were many discrepancies in the voters’ list and as a result, she came there to verify the same. The Police officers stationed at the polling booth seemed very dull, they were not at all active. She added that they were not checking anything.

She said senior citizen voters were coming here but their names had been deleted from the list. She also pointed out that a few of them are residents of Goshamahal but their names are in the list of Rangareddy. Madhavi Latha defended her decision and told the media that there was nothing wrong in her move to ask some women voters to verify their identity.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election campaigning has hotted up with Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal entering the fray in the last moment for the President’s post. Sibal’s main contender is Pradeep Rai, SCBA Vice-President for two terms and an active Senior Advocate known for his concern for members’ cause.  Sibal, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Samajwadi Party, had filed his nomination on May 9, a mere seven days before the elections on May 16. The nomination of Sibal has triggered a debate whether a politician should contest and hold the presidentship of the SCBA. 

Justice PV Shetty, former Lokayukta, Karnataka, told India Legal: “The President-elect should not make use of the position as the office-bearer of the association to improve his position. His political will should not find place in the association’s acitivity. It should be kept separate. One is elected as the President of the SCBA and one should not use the position to improve his political status.”

The SCBA’s mandate is to facilitate a constructive dialogue between the Bar and the Bench, nurturing an environment conducive to the administration of justice. However, partisanship can effectively mar any such interactive effort. A politician brings with himself a baggage of not only entrenched ideologies but vested interests too. He juggles two careers and two ambitions at a time. It opens up the SCBA or any organisation to become a tool of partisan motives, turning it into an impediment rather than a facilitator of legal discourse. This has potential to erode public trust in the judiciary and compromise the sanctity of law administration and justice.

Justice Sridhar Rao, former acting chief justice of Gauhati High Court, told India Legal: “Allowing a Member of Parliament or Member of Legislative Assembly to hold senior posts in the SCBA is not tenable. The association will then have the character of a political party. It will also affect the unity of the Bar.”

Accessibility is another crucial factor that underscores the unsuitability of politicians for leadership roles within professional bodies such as the SCBA. A politician’s hectic schedule, divided between political engagements and legal pursuits, leaves little room for meaningful engagement with the grassroots members of the Bar. A leader who is inaccessible to the common man cannot truly understand their concerns and represent their interests effectively.

Prof Suryaprakash, Vice Chancellor, National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal, told India Legal:  “Article 19 (i) (c) provides for freedom to form associations and unions. The SCBA has been formed not for political aggrandisement but for protection and promotion of advocates interests and rights; and to facilitate administration of justice. SCBA assists the highest court in justice delivery system, and is a part of justice delivery system. The Bar and the Bench go hand in hand. No politician should head the SCBA as it would make all political parties vie with each other to set up their own candidate and would thus make the association a political arena. Bar and Bench go hand in hand. No politician should head the SCBA. It should be headed only by legal professionals.”

Sibal was previously elected SCBA President three times, his last tenure was twenty-three years ago in 2001. Before that, he was President during the 1995-96 and 1997-98 terms. Kapil Sibal also served as the Additional Solicitor General of India during 1989–90.

Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai has over 25 years of standing at the Bar in the Supreme Court of India, various High Courts, Commissions, Regulatory Bodies and Tribunals. During his two terms as Vice-President, SCBA, Rai has taken quite a few initiative to promote the interests of the SCBA members which includes mediation programs, members housing , health benefits for members, chamber allotment and cultural programs.

Incumbent SCBA President Senior Advocate Adish Aggarwala is standing for re-election. Apart from Sibal, Rai and Aggarwala, Senior Advocate Priya Hingorani, Advocates Neeraj Srivastava and Tripurari Ray are also in the fray.

The SCBA elections will be held on May 16 . Voters will choose the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. A debate will be held in the Supreme Court lawns between the candidates for the posts of President and Hony Secretary on May 15. Votes will be counted on May 18, Saturday.

video of YSR Congress MLA A. Sivakumar went viral, in which he can be seen slapping a voter for objecting to the legislator skipping the line at a polling booth in the Huderabad’s Guntur district. The voter and the YSR Congress MLA are shown slapping  each other in the video, which was posted by BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla. Following this, the voter is thrashed by the MLA’s supporters.

In the viral video, the MLA is seen getting violent with the voter and as he slaps him across the face. During the ten second video, it can be seen that no security personnel interfered in between or to rescue the voter. Other voters in the queue were seen trying to help the voter as the MLA’s supports are continuously hitting the voter.

The MLA of the current ruling party is receiving backlash on social media. Netizens are shaing  the video and describes it as an ugly show of political muscle power.  However, YSR Congress Party MLA Abdul Hafeez has described the video as a ploy to defame the ruling party. He also mentioned that the party is reviewing the viral video. The official social media handles of the party have even shared visuals of the injured supporters and employees of the party and have claimed that they were attacked by TDP members.

However, it is not clear what exactly happened before the exchange of blows began, but the MLA’s attack on the voter has come under strong criticism on social media.

According to sources, TDP has filed a complaint about the incident with the Election Commission. The Andhra police are already submitting formal complaints on the event.

The Election Commission has mandated a thorough investigation into the claimed assault on a voter waiting in line at polling place 115 of Ithanagar in the Tenali Assembly Constituency in the Guntur district this morning by incumbent MLA Sivakumar of the YSR Congress.

Voting is taking place today for 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.