Delhi Court Denies Interim Bail To BRS Leader K Kavitha In Liquor Policy Case

A Delhi Court on Monday denied interim bail to BRS leader K Kavitha who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering case connected with the alleged liquor policy scam.

Special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja dismissed Kavitha's interim bail plea and said that prima facie, the BRS leader is actively involved in alleged money laundering offence, destruction of evidence and attempting to influence witnesses.

Kavitha was remanded to judicial custody till April 09 on March 26. She was arrested on the evening of March 15 by the ED hours after the agency and the Income Tax department conducted searches at her Hyderabad residence.

Kavitha was then remanded to ED custody till March 23 which was extended to further three days.

The Court said Kavitha by no standards can be said a “vulnerable” woman who could be made a scapegoat for committing the alleged offences. Observing that BRS leader is undoubtedly a “well­educated” and “well­placed woman in the society”, the court said:

“The material placed before this court in the course of arguments prima facie points towards her active involvement in commission of the alleged offences as also towards her deliberate act of causing destruction of evidence, besides attempting to influence witnesses of the case.”

It added that Kavitha cannot be held entitled to the exercise of discretion in her favour by virtue of her being a woman in the light of the beneficial proviso to Section 45(1) of PMLA.

Kavitha had sought interim bail on the ground of exams of her 16 year old son. Rejecting the relief, the court said that if her one son can study in Spain without presence of his parents then there is no reason as to why the younger son cannot take examinations without her physical presence.

“Further, in this age of technology, the physical absence of older sibling/father can certainly be compensated by their presence through digital devices. The sisters of the Applicant, with whom the Applicant seems to share a close bond keeping in view her prayer for meeting her sisters while in custody, also compels this court to consider that the maternal aunts can also provide the necessary support to the child,” the court said.

Appearing for Kavitha, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi had submitted the court is not “straight-jacketed” by the twin conditions for grant of bail under PMLA and is free to exercise discretion to grant the relief.

Referring to Section 45 of PMLA and various judgments on the subject, Singhvi had said: “The basic principle of woman, rationale of legislature and discretion, all these things are preserved.”

Singhvi had prayed that Kavitha should be released on interim bail to be with her 16 years old son whose exams are commencing from the next month. He had added that the perspective of a mother is not substitutable by the father or sister or brother or even “maasi.”

Opposing the interim bail, special counsel Zoheb Hossain representing ED had submitted that “woman” under the proviso of Section 45 of PMLA cover those women who do not have agency and not the ones who are "leading politicians in the State.”

“The accused in question is one of the prime movers of giving bribes. She is not only part of arranging kickbacks in advance but also beneficiary through indo spirits. I am not relying on statements alone. I've material, WhatsApp documents etc. There is direct proceed of crimes through bank accounts, where she is a beneficiary,” Zoheb had said.

He added that Kavitha was involved in destruction of evidence as she deleted contents and formatted her mobile phones before handing them over to ED.

Furthermore, Zoheb had said that there are witnesses who have been forced or coerced by Kavitha to retract their statement. He said that the behest of Kavitha, there was an attempt to make one of the main witnesses, her CA (Arun Pillai) to retract his statement.

As per the arrest memo, Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and a Telangana Legislative Council member, was arrested by the central probe agency at 5:20 pm from her residence at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

On March 19, Kavitha withdrew from the Supreme Court her plea challenging the ED summons. Thereafter, the Apex Court issued notice on her plea challenging her arrest and asked the BRS leader to approach the trial court for bail.

In the earlier remand application, ED alleged that Kavitha is “one of the kingpins, a key conspirator and beneficiary” of the excise policy scam.

The agency alleged that Kavitha along with other members of the South Group namely Sarath Reddy, Raghav Magunta and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, conspired with top Aam Aadmi Party leaders and gave them kickbacks to the tune of Rs. 100 Crore and in exchange, got undue favours in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy.

ED had also alleged that Kavitha orchestrated a deal with the Delhi Chief Minister and then Deputy Chief Minister, wherein she along with other members of the South Group paid them kickbacks through a string of intermediaries and middlemen.

In this case, the anti-money laundering agency has issued summons to K Kavitha as a part of its wider probe into the alleged financial irregularities surrounding the now-scrapped liquor policy and the role of a purported 'south liquor lobby'.

In March 2023, the ED summoned her to appear in person in Delhi for questioning. In the same month, the central agency's summons were challenged by the BRS leader.