NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that it will file its reply to the bail plea of BRS leader K Kavitha in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam by August 22.
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice V. Viswanathan, was hearing Kavitha's bail plea.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, appearing for the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), stated that the CBI's counter-affidavit had already been filed. Raju added that the ED's counter-affidavit was in the "pipeline" and would be submitted by August 22.
The Supreme Court directed that any rejoinder to the ED's reply should be filed by August 23 and scheduled the matter for further hearing on August 27.
On August 12, the Supreme Court had asked both the CBI and ED to file detailed responses by August 20 regarding Kavitha's bail plea in connection with the 2021-22 Excise Policy case.
Former Attorney General (AG) and senior lawyer, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Kavitha, had sought bail on the grqound that she was in jail for around 5 months. "She is entitled for bail. This is covered by lordships judgments in Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia case," Rohatgi pleaded to the apex court bench.
Kavitha approached the Supreme Court with an appeal after the Delhi High Court rejected her petition on July 1.
The Delhi High Court, led by Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma, found no merit in Kavitha's bail application and dismissed it.
On May 6, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi rejected Kavitha's bail plea, noting that her alleged involvement in the case could not be ruled out. The trial court had rejected her bail plea on three successive occasions, citing sufficient grounds for proceeding with the case.
Kavitha was arrested by the ED on March 15 from her residence in Hyderabad. The CBI took her into custody on April 11 in connection with the same case. Kavitha, 46, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, maintains her innocence in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case and claims her arrest is a misuse of power by the ED.
The CBI and ED allege that Kavitha was involved in bribery and money laundering related to the Delhi Excise Policy. The trial court had previously dismissed her bail plea, citing substantial evidence against her and the risk of her influencing witnesses if released.
Kavitha sought interim bail, arguing that as a woman, she falls within the first proviso to Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (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 evidences 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.
Kavitha's bail plea argues that her arrest was a violation of law, illegal, unconstitutional, and unwarranted. The ED is investigating Kavitha's alleged role in influencing the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy and bribery allegations.
The ED has claimed that one of the accused, Vijay Nair, received kickbacks of at least ₹100 crore on behalf of AAP leaders from the "South Group," allegedly controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha, and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy.
