A Delhi Court on Saturday extended Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha’s custody till March 26. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had sought an extension of Kavitha’s custody by five days.
“The data in her mobile phone has been extracted and analysed. There is evidence to show that there was deletion of mobile data during ED investigation,” the ED advocate submitted. The agency also informed the court that searches were being conducted at the residence of Kavitha’s nephew in Hyderabad.
Judge Kaveri Bajwa ordered the ED to produce Kavitha before the court on Tuesday at 11 am.
Before the proceedings began, the BRS leader told a news agency, “…This is an illegal arrest. We are going to fight it out in court. It is a political case, a fabricated case, a false case. We are fighting it out. There is nothing new, they are asking the same things again and again…”
Earlier, the Supreme Court on Friday had refused to grant her bail in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Saying the court is following protocol, a Bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi had asked Kavitha to approach the trial court.
The Bench also said that as far as the BRS leader’s plea challenging the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is concerned, the court is issuing notice to the ED and seeking its response.
“The petition challenging the provisions (of PMLA) will come up with the pending matters,” the Bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kavitha.
Earlier on March 19, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had accused the BRS leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao of conspiring with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and transferring Rs 100 crore to the party in exchange for favourable treatment in the now-defunct Delhi excise policy.
Kavitha was questioned three times last year in connection with this matter by the ED and was summoned again this year. However, she refused to testify, citing a Supreme Court directive that granted her protection from any coercive measures.
The ED described Kavitha as a key figure and a significant conspirator in the Delhi excise policy scandal. It alleged that Kavitha and her associates were planning to recover funds paid in advance to the AAP for additional profits. In its request for her custody, the agency informed the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court that she was a major beneficiary of the fraudulent scheme.
Meanwhile, Kavitha has alleged the Central government of “manipulating” the ED to cover the party’s (BJP) inability to secure a “backdoor entry” into Telangana. The AAP has accused the BJP of deploying the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as its “goons” to eliminate political adversaries.
First Published: Mar 23 2024 | 1:41 PM IST
