A Delhi court on Tuesday sent Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha to judicial custody for 14 days since the duration of her Enforcement Directorate remand has ended. She was arrested on March 15 in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy ‘scam’ that has since seen the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal as well.
The Rouse Avenue court had last week allowed the ED to retain Kavitha’s custody for five more days. The ED’s custody expires today. As per the agency, Kavitha was confronted with the statements of four people and a forensic report of data extracted from her mobile phone during the five additional days of her custody.
As per ED, Kavitha, the daughter of ex-Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, is a key member of the ‘South Group’ that allegedly bribed AAP Rs 100 crore in exchange for liquor licenses under the Delhi government’s excise policy 2021-22. The policy was later scrapped by the Kejriwal government.
The ED further alleges that the AAP used this money to fund its election campaigns in Goa and Punjab, a charge that the AAP has denied.
In its remand request submitted before the Delhi court today, the ED said Kavitha’s involvement in the payment of kickbacks to government functionaries to gain illegal benefits in the excise policy formulation and implementation “was evident”. It also claimed that the BRS leader is “actually involved in the transfer of proceeds of crime of Rs 100 crore… which was paid to AAP leaders”.
The agency further cited Kavitha’s skipping of the summons and claimed she “has not given true and complete disclosure and has not cooperated with the investigation”.