New Delhi: As part of its probe into money laundering allegations connected to the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021–22 case, a Delhi court on Saturday further remanded Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) legislator K Kavitha to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody until March 26.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja’s order requires the probe agency to produce her on March 26 at 11:00 a.m.
The Supreme Court said it would not accept a bail plea solely because the legislator happened to be a political figure or could afford to come directly to the top court on Friday, and it asked the member to approach the trial court instead.
The ED requested an additional five days of remand after informing the court that Kavitha had colluded to pay kickbacks totaling Rs. 100 crore.
The ED’s Zoheb Hussain told the court that her mobile data was examined by specialists and that she was also presented with a forensic science report stating that the data had been erased while the money laundering case was being investigated.
The lawyer told the court that the ED was also searching her nephew’s home.
On March 15, the ED took Kavitha, 46, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, into custody from her Hyderabad home after a long day of searching and raiding by the federal agency and income tax officers.
A Delhi court remanded her to the Enforcement Department’s custody until March 23 on March 16, stating that her detention was necessary for the trailing of a significant amount of money from criminal activity. Under the representation of attorney Nitesh Rana, Kavitha stated that she would not be able to provide certain documents requested by the ED until she received bail.
Rana added to the court that even though the BRS lawmaker had submitted a bail plea, she was merely asking for notice from the court today and would not be pushing for the same.
For someone, it is an issue of personal liberty. You may submit the response on the day of the remand hearing. I’m not pushing for it, and the ED may only get notice,” stated Rana.
The counsel said that Kavitha was mentioned as a major figure in the excise policy-related anomalies in the court filings, despite the fact that she has not been listed as an accused in any of the six charge sheets the financial crimes inquiry agency has filed since November 2023.
Kavitha’s main accusation is that she belonged to the so-called “South Group,” a cartel of politicians and businessmen that allegedly paid AAP officials millions of rupees in kickbacks in exchange for nine retail zones under the Delhi excise policy. This group included members of the Aurobindo Group’s Sarath Reddy, Delhi businessman Sameer Mahendru, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, and others.
The probe agency ED said that Vijay Nair, acting on behalf of AAP leader and New Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had accepted bribes totaling Rs. 100 crore from the South Group in a remand notice that it had filed while requesting Kejriwal’s custody for ten days.
After being arrested the day before for his suspected involvement in the state’s contentious 2021–22 excise policy, Kejriwal was remanded to the ED’s custody until March 28 on Friday. The ED referred to the Chief Minister as the “kingpin” and “key conspirator” in this regard.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), along with other agencies, is also investigating the leader of BRS for corruption in the case. The CBI summoned her last month, but she declined to appear, citing a Supreme Court exemption.