Delhi court denies interim bail to BRS leader K. Kavitha in excise policy case

A Delhi court on Monday denied interim bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K. Kavitha in connection with a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

She had moved the court for interim bail on grounds of her son's exams.

Kavitha, who has been accused of being actively involved in the payment of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore and has been termed a kingpin of the 'scam' by the ED, is currently in judicial custody till April 9.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Court on Monday dismissed her plea saying the stage was not right to enlarge her on interim bail. Kavitha had moved the court for interim bail, saying her 16-year-old son has exams and needs his mother’s moral and emotional support.

Last week, she had moved the court opposing the CBI's plea seeking to interrogate and record her statement in Tihar Jail and urging the court to recall its order. Notably, the court had allowed on April 5 the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to question Kavitha in Tihar Jail.

The court is to hear the matter now on April 10 after the CBI sought time to reply to Kavitha’s plea.

On April 6, Kavitha's counsel Nitesh Rana told the court that the probe agency thwarted the due process of law by filing the plea “behind her back”.

“I have grave apprehension that the CBI may not have divulged the true facts to obtain a favourable order from the court,” Rana told the court, as he urged it to keep the order in abeyance until Kavitha’s side is heard.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is also probing a case of money laundering related to the alleged liquor policy scam in the national capital, arrested Kavitha on March 15 after searches at her residence in Hyderabad.

It has been claimed that Kavitha was involved in establishing the money laundering ecosystem, i.e., M/s Indo Spirits, through her proxy, which generated proceeds of crime worth Rs 192.8 crore.