Delhi Excise Policy Case : BRS Leader K Kavitha Withdraws From Supreme Court Her Plea Against ED Summons Of 2023

The Supreme Court today permitted withdrawal of the plea by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Telangana CM's daughter K. Kavitha challenging ED summons in relation to the Delhi Excise Policy case.

The plea was dismissed as withdrawn by a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal, with liberty to petitioner-Kavitha to pursue appropriate remedies in accordance with law.

During the hearing, Sr Adv Vikram Chaudhri, appearing for Kavitha, urged that the writ had become infructuous and may be dealt with as such. "Because I've been arrested, I'll take all my pleas in a fresh matter", the Senior Counsel said.

"So you don't want to press this petition?", asked Trivedi, J.

Chaudhri replied, "This is in teeth of your Lordships' proceedings, but I would say everything in...".

 Interjecting, Justice Trivedi insisted, "No, no...you make your stand clear".

At this point, Chaudhri said, "I am making a statement that since I have been arrested and taken into custody...I am taking...". Considering, Justice Trivedi dictated the order.

It may be recalled that this matter was adjourned on the last date, ie March 15, as connected cases (which raise the legal point whether a woman can be summoned by the Enforcement Directorate) were not listed. A notable aspect of the hearing was that Additional Solicitor General SV Raju (appearing for the ED) sought to retract a statement made by him in September, 2023 to the effect that summons to the BRS leader would be deferred by 10 days. However, the Court did not indulge into the issue and posted the matter high on board for today.

On the same day ie March 15, reports of Kavitha's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate came in. As per the arrest memo, she was arrested by the probe agency at 5:20 pm from her residence at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

On March 16, a Delhi Court remanded the BRS leader to ED custody till March 23. Kavitha, who was produced before the Court, claimed that the arrest was illegal and she would fight it in court.

Briefly stated, the central agency is currently investigating Kavitha's role in influencing the now-scrapped liquor policy in the national capital and related bribery allegations. In March last year, her writ petition was tagged with a 2018 plea filed by Nalini Chidambaram, senior advocate and wife of former finance minister P Chidambaram, who approached the top court after the Madras High Court refused to quash the ED summons against her in the Saradha chit fund scam case.

Kavitha has filed a separate writ petition in the Supreme Court yesterday challenging the arrest by the ED.

Case Title: KALVAKUNTLA KAVITHA v. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT, W.P.(Crl.) No. 103/2023 (and connected matters)

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