In a major setback to BRS leader K Kavitha, a Delhi court on Monday refused to grant her interim bail over her alleged involvement in the Delhi excise policy-related money laundering case.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja dismissed Kavitha's interim bail plea in the case.
"Kavitha destroyed material evidence in the case when she formatted her phone before joining the investigation. She has been instrumental in influencing witnesses. There is every likelihood of her influencing witnesses if she is allowed out on bail," Baweja said in her order.
Responding to Kavitha's plea that she should be enlarged on bail as she needed to take care of her child's examinations anxiety, the court noted that it was not a compelling reason to grant her bail at this stage, keeping in view her alleged role in the case.
"Kavitha by no standards can be called a vulnerable woman. She is a well placed and well educated woman of the society. She cannot be entitled to discretion (for getting bail) in her favour by virtue of her being a woman," the judge further noted in her order.
Kavitha had approached the court for interim bail on the ground that her 16-year-old son has examinations and needed his mother's "moral and emotional support". His examinations had already commenced from March 26, she said.
Advocates Nitesh Rana, P. Mohith Rao and Deepak Nagar, appearing for Kavitha, pleaded for interim bail on the ground that being a woman, she is seeking bail as she falls within the first proviso 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 kickbacks 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 on behalf of AAP leaders to the tune of at least Rs 100 crores from the "South Group", allegedly controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy.
The ED, on the evening of March 15, had arrested Kavitha from her Hyderabad residence in the case.
The ED is investigating Kavitha's role in allegedly influencing the now-scrapped liquor policy in the national capital and bribery allegations. In March last year, her writ petition was tagged with a 2018 plea filed by Nalini Chidambaram.
Kavitha, 46, 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 abuse of power.
