Case involving Delhi excise policy: K Kavitha withdraws Supreme Court appeal contesting ED summons
Delhi excise policy case: BRS leader K Kavitha dropped her plea against the Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) summons from the Supreme Court on Tuesday. In front of a court chaired by Justice Bela M. Trivedi, BRS leader K. Kavitha’s attorney filed a motion to drop her plea contesting the ED summons.
She filed a challenge to her arrest with the Supreme Court earlier on Monday, and it is still pending before the highest court. K. Kavitha has also contested her detention in her petition, arguing that it violates Article 141, which declares that the law determined by the Supreme Court would be enforceable on all courts operating within the borders of India. In her petition, K. Kavitha contested the PMLA Act’s provision 19(1) as well.
Kavitha, the daughter of BRS founder and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was taken into custody on March 15 after a day-long interrogation and a search at her Hyderabad home. The BRS chief was placed in ED detention until March 23 by a Delhi court. According to reports, KCR’s daughter is a prominent figure in the “South Group,” which is suspected of giving the governing AAP bribes of Rs 100 crore in exchange for a substantial portion of liquor licences in the nation’s capital.
What does ED assert?
The Delhi government’s ruling party received Rs 100 crore from K Kavitha and other individuals, according to the Enforcement Directorate, who said on Monday that they had “conspired” with top Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, to obtain favourable treatment in the revoked Delhi excise policy.
In a statement, the ED said that Kavitha and other individuals “colluded with AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia to obtain preferential treatment in the formulation and execution of the Delhi excise policy.” She participated in giving the AAP leaders Rs 100 crore in return for these benefits.”
It claimed that unlawful monies in the form of kickbacks from wholesalers were allegedly created for the AAP via alleged actions of “corruption and conspiracy” in the creation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2021–2022. “Kavitha and her associates were to recover the proceeds of crime paid in advance to AAP and to further generate profits/proceeds of crime from this entire conspiracy,” it said.
In a case of alcohol fraud, Kavitha is detained.
On Saturday, March 16, the national capital saw the arrival of K. Kavitha, a member of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC, to the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) office after his detention in connection with a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy.
After being questioned for a whole day and having her home in Hyderabad raided, Kavitha, the daughter of BRS founder and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was taken into custody.
During the search, the ED reportedly found around five cell phones in K. Kavitha’s home. According to a witness’s statement, Kavita forbade them from conducting the inquiry even after the ED produced the search warrant. After some time, the hunt was put into motion.
When requesting Kavitha’s detention last week, the agency said she was “one of the kingpins, a key conspirator, and a beneficiary of the Delhi excise policy scam” in front of the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court.
CBI looking into alleged money laundering
Kavitha was also questioned by the CBI earlier in relation to the money laundering case. After taking cognizance of the CBI’s FIR, the ED case was launched.
Businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, of Hyderabad, was detained in connection with the investigation last year and, according to the ED, “is one of the key persons in the entire scam involving payments of huge kickbacks and formation of the biggest cartel of the South Group.” The investigation said that the “South Group” included Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (MP, Ongole), his son Raghav Magunta, Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Group), Telangana MLC Kavitha, and others. During its inquiry, the federal agency said that Pillai, Abhishek Boinpalli, and Butchi Babu were representing the South Group.
Since the case was filed in 2022, the ED claimed to have searched 245 places throughout the country, leading to the arrest of 15 people, including Manish Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, Sanjay Singh, and a number of spirits merchants. In this instance, assets valued at more than Rs 128 crore have been linked to six chargesheets that have been submitted so far.
The Delhi government’s excise policy has been accused by the ED and the CBI of encouraging cartelization and exhibiting favouritism towards certain dealers who allegedly paid bribes for it. The AAP has angrily refuted these allegations.
Subsequently, the policy was revoked, and Lieutenant Governor V.. K.. Saxena of Delhi pushed for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the anomalies noted in the formulation and implementation of the policy. The Enforcement Department then filed a case in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
