In an excise policy case, the ED brought BRS leader K Kavitha before a Delhi court

The BRS leader K Kavitha, who was detained on Saturday, was presented before a court in this city by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case involving the now-canceled Delhi excise policy.

The Telangana Legislative Council member was brought by the agency before Special Judge M K Nagpal, who is expected to hear the case soon.

The BRS leader informed media representatives as he was brought before the court, “We will fight it (the case) out in court.”

She was taken into custody by the central investigation agency yesterday night from her home in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills and sent to Delhi.

The ED may ask the court to grant them ten days of detention.

Given that her appeal for no coercive action in this matter is still ongoing before the Supreme Court and is scheduled for hearing on March 19, her defense is anticipated to dispute the same, having already declared the Friday ED action unlawful.

In the meanwhile, further barriers were erected and a security ring was formed around the waiting news teams and interested bystanders by members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Delhi Police outside the ED office on A P J Abdul Kalam Road.

Kavitha was questioned by the ED three times last year and once again this year, but she did not show up, claiming a Supreme Court ruling that granted her immunity from coercive measures.

The Delhi excise strategy for 2021–22 was then revoked, according to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which said Kavitha was associated with a group of booze dealers known as the “South Group” that was attempting to gain more influence.

According to the allegations, Vijay Nair, one of the accused in the case, accepted bribes of at least Rs 100 crore from the “South Group,” which is purportedly managed by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha, and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, on behalf of the AAP leaders.

Arun Ramchandran Pillai, a businessman from Hyderabad who had previously been detained in connection with the case and was purportedly connected to Kavitha, was questioned by the ED during their most recent round of interrogations, according to authorities.

Then, Kavitha claimed that she had done nothing illegal and said that the BJP was unable to get a “backdoor entry” into Telangana, therefore the Centre was “using” the ED.

The ED claims that the “South Group” is made up of Sarath Reddy, the Aurobindo Pharma founder, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, the YSR Congress MP for Andhra Pradesh’s Ongole Lok Sabha constituency, his son Raghav Magunta, Kavitha, and other individuals.

In Pillai’s detention documents, the ED also claimed that Pillai “represented the benami investments” of Kavitha in the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had already questioned Kavitha at her Hyderabad home on the issue.

The testimony of Butchibabu, an accountant purportedly connected to Kavitha, was also recorded by the ED.

The ED claims that the accountant said that “K Kavitha and (Delhi) Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and (then Delhi) deputy chief minister (Manish Sisodia) had political understanding.”

K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair throughout the procedure on March 19–20, 2021.”

In this case, Nair was taken into custody by the CBI as well as the ED.

The Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021–22, which granted licenses to liquor sellers, was accused by the agency of facilitating cartelization and favoring specific dealers who had reportedly paid bribes for it. The AAP has fiercely denied these allegations.

The strategy was later abandoned, and the lieutenant governor of Delhi suggested that the CBI look into the matter. The ED then filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).