The Supreme Court will hear BRS leader K Kavitha’s bail pleas on Tuesday. (Photo: ANI)
The Supreme Court is expected to hear on Tuesday the bail pleas of BRS chief K Kavitha in corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged excise scam in Delhi.
The Supreme Court had on August 12 sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Kavitha’s pleas challenging the July 1 Delhi High Court verdict denying her bail in these cases.
According to the August 20 list of cases uploaded on the court’s website, a bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan will hear her arguments.
During the arguments on August 12, Kavitha’s lawyer sought bail. He argued that she has been in custody for about five months and that the chargesheet and the prosecution’s chargesheet had already been filed by the CBI and the ED respectively.
For the ED, an accusation against the Public Prosecution Service is the equivalent of an indictment.
Her lawyer referred to the Supreme Court’s rulings on the petitions filed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia.
The Supreme Court had earlier granted interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case related to the alleged scam. Sisodia was granted bail in both the corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise policy fraud.
The Supreme Court had on July 1 rejected Kavitha’s bail pleas in both the cases, holding that she was prima facie one of the key conspirators in the criminal conspiracy relating to the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The CBI and the ED have filed separate cases relating to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the policy.
The ED arrested Kavitha (46) on March 15 from her residence in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. The CBI arrested her on April 11 in connection with the corruption case related to the alleged scam.
Kavitha denies the allegations.
While rejecting her bail pleas, the High Court said there is no reason to release her on regular bail for the time being as the investigation is at a crucial stage.
Her claim for compensation on the grounds that she is a woman was rejected. According to the court, as a highly educated woman and former member of parliament, she cannot be considered a vulnerable woman. Furthermore, the court should not lose sight of the ‘serious allegations’ against her.
Kavitha had moved the Supreme Court against the May 6 order of a trial court which had rejected her bail pleas in the CBI corruption case and the Public Prosecution Service’s money laundering case.
Before the Supreme Court in the ED case, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader, daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, had stated that she had “nothing to do” with the excise policy and that there was a criminal conspiracy against her “orchestrated by the ruling party at the Centre with the active connivance of the ED”.
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First publication: Aug 18, 2024 | 12:04 PM IST