Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha’s bail pleas in connection with corruption and money laundering cases tied to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The cases, linked to the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, have kept Kavitha in custody for nearly five months.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan agreed to hear Kavitha’s challenge to the Delhi High Court’s July 1 verdict, which denied her bail. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Kavitha, argued that she is entitled to bail, citing the Supreme Court’s previous interim bail orders for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, both of whom are involved in the same alleged scam.
Rohatgi highlighted that the CBI and ED had already filed their chargesheets and prosecution complaints, involving around 500 witnesses in the cases. Despite his plea for interim bail, the Supreme Court bench refused to grant it without first hearing from the CBI and ED.
The court has issued notices to both agencies, seeking their responses and scheduled the next hearing for August 20.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed Kavitha’s bail pleas, labeling her as one of the primary conspirators in the criminal conspiracy behind the excise policy. The high court emphasized that given the gravity of the allegations and the crucial stage of the investigation, granting bail was not justified at this time.
Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested by the ED on March 15 at her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad and by the CBI on April 11 in connection with the corruption case. She has consistently denied the charges, arguing that she has no involvement in the excise policy and alleging that the case against her is a politically motivated conspiracy orchestrated by the ruling party at the Centre with the ED’s assistance.
