Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, March 15: Leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), K Kavitha, filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking for protection from arrest and contesting the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate in the matter involving the Delhi liquor policy.
DY Chandrachud, Chief Justice, and PS Narasimha, Justice, decided to hear Kavitha’s appeal on March 24.
Kavitha’s solicitor requested an expedited hearing of the plea, arguing that by law, a woman cannot be brought for questioning at the ED office and must instead be questioned at her home.
The central agency intends to confront the BRS leader with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who is involved in the liquor scam, but the ED hasn’t done so yet, Kavitha’s attorney informed the bench.
The Supreme Court questioned Kavitha’s request for an immediate plea hearing, to which her attorney responded that the ED hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, March 16. The court then determined that the case will be heard on March 24.
Notably, the ED questioned Kavitha and presented her with Pillai’s remarks on March 11, and on March 16 she was ordered to take another deposition. According to the ED, Kavitha was associated with a “south group” liquor cartel that gave the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) payments of over Rs 100 crore in order to increase its market share in the national capital under the Delhi excise policy for 2020–21. The ED claims that the Aurobindo Pharma promoter Sarath Reddy, YSR Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, Kavitha, and other others make up the cartel.
