The Supreme Court on Friday, March 22, asked Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha to move to a lower court for bail in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case and posted the case after more than two months. A special bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela Trivedi refused to grant immediate relief to Kavitha, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case on March 15.
The bench said that while they can hear her petition challenging the arrest, they cannot grant bail and directed the lower trial court to hear the case expeditiously.
Initially, Kavitha moved the SC challenging the ED summons in the Delhi liquor policy scam case. After her arrest on March 15, she withdrew this petition and filed a new one challenging her arrest. In her petition, she said the arrest violates Article 141 (Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts). The plea also challenged Section 19 (1) (Power to arrest) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
BRS MLC Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), was arrested on March 15 by the ED and was sent to 10-day remand by a Delhi Court till March 23. The ED alleged Kavitha was a key conspirator who orchestrated a deal with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, and then Deputy CM and Excise Minister Manish Sisodia and alleged that Kavitha is a beneficiary of the Delhi excise policy scam. The ED also accused Kavitha of producing false evidence when she ED previously recorded her statements and summoned her husband, Anil Kumar, and house help for March 18 for the extraction of digital data and to “confront her”.
Kavitha has not appeared before the agency since October last year despite summons and approached the Supreme Court, challenging the summoning of a woman by the ED to its office. The top court in September last year had asked the ED not to insist on her appearance in the ongoing probe till the next date of listing. This interim protection from ED action was extended till March 13 following which the ED arrested Kavitha at her residence in Hyderabad.
The ED has alleged that Kavitha is one among several individuals from the Telugu states who gave kickbacks worth about Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) through the party’s former communications in-charge Vijay Nair in exchange for “undue favours”.