NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha’s pleas seeking bail on August 20.
Kavitha had moved to the top court to challenge the Delhi High Court’s July 1 verdict denying bail for corruption & money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy case.
A two-judge bench of the top court, led by Justice B R Gavai and Justice K V Viswanathan is slated to hear her pleas on August 20, according to the Supreme Court’s cause list.
The top court on August 12, sought a detailed response from the CBI and ED by August 20, on hearing the bail plea filed by the BRS leader.
Former Attorney General (AG) and senior lawyer, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Kavitha, had sought bail on the ground that she was in jail for around 5 months.
"She is entitled to bail. This is covered by lordships judgments in Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia case," Rohatgi pleaded to the apex court bench.
Hearing this, the top court issued notice to the ED and CBI and asked them to file their detailed replies.
"Issue notice, returnable August 20," the SC's two-judge bench, led by Justice Gavai had said.
Kavitha had filed an appeal in the top court, after the Delhi High Court had on July 1 rejected her petition.
The Delhi HC judge, Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma, in her order, said, there was no merit in the prayer filed by the accused seeking bail in the case. "The bail appeal is accordingly dismissed".
On May 6, the Special Judge of CBI and ED cases, of the Rouse Avenue Court here in Delhi, Judge Kaveri Baweja rejected her bail plea in the excise case, forcing her to move an appeal before the Delhi HC seeking bail and challenging the dismissal of bail.
The Delhi Court had rejected her bail plea, after noting that her alleged complicity in the case could not be ruled out.
The accused, Kavitha was arrested by the ED on the evening of March 15 from her Hyderabad residence. Subsequently, the CBI also took her into its custody on April 11 in the same case. Kavitha, the daughter of the former Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrashekar Rao, claimed innocence in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case. She said that her arrest was a blatant misuse of power by the ED.
The CBI and ED have claimed that she was involved in the exchange of bribes and the laundering of money in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy.
The trial court dismissed her bail on the ground that there were sufficient materials against her to proceed in the case.
"Prima facie there appeared to be sufficient material against the accused (Kavitha). In the light of the discussion, the material on record and the seriousness of allegations against the accused, this court is not inclined to admit the applicant on bail at this stage," Judge Baweja said in her order.
"Kavitha has been instrumental in influencing witnesses. There is every likelihood of her influencing witnesses if she is allowed to be released on bail," she said in her order.
Kavitha, who pleaded for interim bail on the ground that she is a woman, is seeking bail as she falls within the first provision to Section 45 (1) of PMLA.
Opposing the bail plea of Kavitha, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which is the central probe agency in the case, claimed before the court that Kavitha allegedly destroyed material evidence and influenced witnesses in the case.
The agency had alleged that Kavitha is a key member of the "South Group", which has been accused of paying the ruling AAP in Delhi, kickbacks of Rs 100 crore in return for a big share of liquor licences in the national capital.
It has been alleged by the ED that one of the accused in the case, Vijay Nair, received kickbacks to the tune of at least ₹100 crores on behalf of AAP leaders from the "South Group", allegedly controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy.
In her bail plea, Kavitha said that her arrest was a blatant violation of law.
