Rouse Avenue Court, Delhi: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (‘BRS’) leader K Kavitha had sought interim bail on the ground that her 16-year-old son had exams and he needed his mother’s “moral and emotional support”. Kaveri Baweja, Special CBI Judge, denied interim bail to K Kavitha who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (‘ED’) in the money laundering case connected with the alleged liquor policy scam.
Kavitha, one of the most high-profile politicians to be arrested by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case, was arrested on March 15 evening from Hyderabad, after an ED team searched the premises and interrogated her. Kavitha is presently in judicial custody in Tihar Jail. Other political leaders arrested in this case include Delhi Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and all of them were accused of being part of a conspiracy to frame the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-2022 in a manner that enabled money laundering and benefitted certain liquor lobby groups.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kavitha prayed that she should be released on interim bail to be with her 16-year-old son whose exams were commencing from next month. He had added that the perspective of a mother was not substitutable by the father, sister, or brother or even “maasi.”
Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain representing the ED submitted that “woman” under the proviso of Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, covered those women who did not have agency and not the ones who were “leading politicians in the State”. He stated that “the lady in question is one of the prime movers of giving bribes. She is also a beneficiary through her proxies. This is not based only on statements but based on documents and WhatsApp chats. This is all corroborated”. He further stated that Kavitha was involved in the destruction of evidence as she deleted contents and formatted her mobile phones before handing them over to the ED.
It was also submitted that the ED was about to come across a breakthrough in its probe and granting interim bail to Kavitha would disrupt the investigation.
Source: Press
