BRS leader K Kavitha has denied the allegations against her. (File)
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from CBI and ED on BRS leader K Kavitha’s bail applications in corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi Customs scam. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan agreed to hear Ms Kavitha’s applications challenging the Delhi High Court’s July 1 verdict denying her bail in these cases.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Ms. Kavitha, told the court that she has been in custody for about five months and that the chargesheet and the criminal complaint have been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) respectively.
For Edison University, a criminal complaint is the equivalent of an indictment.
Mr Rohatgi said there were about 500 witnesses in both cases.
Mr Rohatgi claimed that she was entitled to bail, citing the Supreme Court’s verdict and decision on the petitions filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia.
The Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Mr Kejriwal in the money laundering case related to the alleged fraud case. Mr Sisodia was granted bail in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged fraud case related to Delhi’s excise policy.
Mr Rohatgi said Ms Kavitha’s case was covered by these Supreme Court orders.
“We will issue a notice,” the court said.
“May I pray for interim bail,” said Mr Rohatgi.
The court observed: “Not without hearing them (CBI and ED).”
The court then issued notices to the CBI and the ED seeking their responses on Ms. Kavitha’s appeals and scheduled the case for hearing on August 20.
The Supreme Court had on July 1 rejected Ms Kavitha’s bail applications in both the cases on the ground that she was prima facie one of the main conspirators in the criminal conspiracy related to the formulation and implementation of the now repealed Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The CBI and the ED have filed separate cases alleging corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the policy.
The ED arrested Ms. Kavitha (46) from her residence in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad on March 15. The CBI arrested her on April 11 in connection with the corruption case linked to the alleged scam.
Ms. Kavitha has denied the allegations.
The Supreme Court rejected their bail applications, saying that there was currently no case for granting regular bail as the investigation was at a crucial stage.
It had rejected her claim for compensation on the grounds that she was a woman. As a well-educated person and former MP, she could not be equated with a woman in need of protection, and the court should not lose sight of the “serious allegations” against her.
This “Court is of the view that K. Kavitha was prima facie one of the main conspirators in the criminal conspiracy relating to the formulation and implementation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22,” the Supreme Court said.
Before the Supreme Court, Ms. Kavitha had challenged a trial court’s May 6 order rejecting her bail applications in the CBI corruption case and the ED money laundering case.
Before the Supreme Court in the ED case, the chairperson of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, had stated that she had “nothing to do with the tax policy” and that there was a criminal conspiracy against her “hatched by the ruling party at the Centre with the active connivance of the ED”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
