A city court on Friday sent Bharat Rasthra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha to CBI custody till April 15 in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja passed the order after hearing arguments of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as Kavitha’s counsel.
Kavitha, 46, was arrested by the CBI in Tihar jail, where she was lodged after her arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, on Thursday. The CBI, while seeking Kavitha’s custody for five days, told the court that she was not cooperating in the investigation and was evasive in her replies.
In its 22 pages order, Special Judge Baweja said ‘the material collected so far by the Investigating Agency and upon perusal of the Case Diary furnished by the Investigating Officer, it appears that there is need for a detailed and sustained interrogation of the accused, keeping in view the number of accused involved in the alleged conspiracy, and the nature and modus of commission of the alleged offences. “The Investigating Agency has been able to show from the records that custodial interrogation of the above named accused on certain aspects is necessary for confronting her with the evidence collected so far and also that the witnesses in order to unearth the larger conspiracy in the matter,” the order said.
The order said it has been highlighted in the course of arguments that the accused did not join the investigation on 26.02.2024 despite issuance of a notice U/S 41A Cr.P.C. to her (which fact is not disputed). The submissions made on behalf of Investigating Agency reflects substantial compliance with regard to arrest of the Accused.
“During her questioning, she didn’t give satisfactory replies regarding her role. Her replies were contrary to the documents recovered by the CBI during the investigation. Kavitha is concealing facts which are exclusively in her knowledge. Earlier also she did not join the investigation despite summons (being issued to her). So, we need her five days’ custodial remand to unearth the conspiracy,” the CBI said.
Advocate Nitesh Rana, Kavitha’s counsel, opposed the CBI’s plea and termed the arrest illegal. He further accused the probe agency of violating Kavitha’s fundamental rights. He told the court that the CBI arrested Kavitha while an application filed by her opposing the agency’s plea to interrogate her in judicial custody was already pending before the court.While seeking Kavitha’s custody, the CBI also stated that a liquor businessman of the “South Group” met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and sought his support for business in the national capital. “Kejriwal assured him of support... We have sufficient material, WhatsApp chats and statements of co-accused,” the CBI told the court.
Dinesh Arora, an accused-turned-approver in the case, has confirmed in his statement that accused Abhishek Boinpally informed him that Rs 100 crore was given to co-accused and former AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair, the CBI claimed. The central probe agency also told the court that it has recorded the statements of hawala operators in the case that confirm certain payments in the case.
“Licences were given to company Indospirits even after being blacklisted due to the pressure of accused Manish Sisodia,” the CBI claimed.
The CBI has arrested Kavitha under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 477-A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 (offence relating to public servant being bribed) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to officials. CBI officials had recently questioned Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, inside the prison after obtaining permission from a special court. The ED had arrested her from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad.
