The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the plea by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha challenging the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in the Delhi Excise Policy case, till March 19.
A Bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal adjourned the matter noting that the connected cases have not been listed, Live Law reported.
Daughter of former Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao, Kavitha, 46, was arrested by the ED yesterday from her Hyderabad residence, and taken to Delhi for questioning in the money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
What's Kavitha's alleged role in the case?
The ED had claimed Kavitha was linked to a "South Group" lobby of liquor traders who were trying to play a larger role under the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22. It alleged that one of the accused in the case, Vijay Nair, received kickbacks of at least Rs 100 crore on behalf of AAP leaders from the "South Group", allegedly comprising Kavitha, Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Pharma), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (YSR Congress MP from Ongole Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh), his son Raghav Magunta, and others.
In the last round of questioning by the ED, officials said, Kavitha was confronted with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, who was arrested in the case earlier and allegedly shared close ties with her. The ED also alleged in Pillai's remand papers that he "represented the benami investments" of Kavitha in the case.
Kavitha's dramatic arrest
After a four-hour long raid at her residence in Banjara Hills, Kavitha was arrested and her preliminary statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
She is expected to be produced before a designated PMLA court on Saturday where the agency will seek her remand for custodial interrogation.
Kavitha's legal team said the arrest was illegal as her petition against the ED summons had been listed by the Supreme Court for hearing on March 19.
The ED questioned Kavitha thrice last year in this case and again summoned her this year but she did not depose citing a Supreme Court direction that allowed her protection from any coercive action.
Kavitha was earlier questioned by the CBI in connection with the case at her residence in Hyderabad.
The ED alleged the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
(With PTI inputs)
