Excise case: Delhi HC denies bail to K Kavitha

The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha’s plea seeking bail in cases registered against her in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

The verdict was pronounced by a bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma.

Kavitha, 46, is currently in judicial custody. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested her from her Hyderabad residence on March 15, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested her in a parallel case on April 11, while she was lodged in Tihar jail.

Challenging her arrest, the BRS leader alleged that the investigation by the federal probe agencies was “compromised” and was being carried out to further a “political agenda”.

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Kavitha’s bail plea was first rejected by a city court on May 6, which ruled that there appeared to be a prima facie case indicating Kavitha’s involvement in the commission of the offence of money laundering in relation to the excise policy in the ED case, and in the CBI case, she prima facie appeared a key conspirator in the collection and payment of upfront money to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The BRS leader later moved the high court, but justice Sharma on Monday dismissed her plea.

During the hearing, Kavitha’s legal team led by senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary and advocate Nitesh Rana asserted that the investigation of the federal agencies was biased, partial and lopsided.

ED and CBI, represented by special counsel Zoheb Hossain and DP Singh, countered these claims by emphasising that the BRS leader was a beneficiary of proceeds of crime generated in the excise policy.

Hossain further asserted that Kavitha had influenced co-accused to retract their statements made before the probe agency and destroyed evidence.