Delhi excise policy case: Kavitha conspired with Kejriwal: ED; ‘high-profile’ arrests likely, CBI tells court

The ED spokesperson also alleged that “Kavitha and her associates were to recover the proceeds of crime paid in advance to AAP and to further generate profits/proceeds of crime from this entire conspiracy”.

Kavitha, a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested by the ED on Friday, hours after the agency and the Income Tax department conducted searches at her Hyderabad residence.

The ED had earlier alleged in its chargesheet that Kavitha was part of a ‘South Group’ that paid Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to AAP leaders in exchange for undue benefits under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

However, it had not named Kejriwal in connection with this allegation so far.

The only time Kejriwal had found a mention in the case was when the ED, in a supplementary prosecution complaint, alleged that he allegedly spoke to one of the main accused, Sameer Mahendru, in a video call and asked him to continue working with co-accused Vijay Nair.

Till date, the ED has conducted searches on 245 locations across the country, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and other places, the ED spokesperson said Monday, adding that 15 persons, including Sisodia, Nair and Sanjay Singh from the AAP, have been arrested.

In response to the ED’s claims, the AAP said in a statement, “On earlier occasions too, ED has released such blatantly false and frivolous statements which show that instead of being a neutral investigative agency, it is working like a political wing of BJP. This is a desperate attempt to malign the image of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia by planting falsehoods and creating a media sensation every day. ED’s statement, which presents no new fact or evidence, speaks volumes of its frustration since they have not recovered a single rupee or piece of evidence in this case, despite carrying out over 500 raids and questioning thousands of witnesses.”

Meanwhile, the CBI Monday opposed Sisodia’s bail plea in the court of special judge M K Nagpal.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 last year, and later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a PMLA case originating from the CBI’s FIR.

Arguing for bail, senior advocate Mohit Mathur said no loss was caused to the exchequer due to the now-scrapped excise policy. “There has been an increase in the revenue of the exchequer… consumers have also benefited,” said Mathur, arguing for Sisodia.

“They (ED) had told the Supreme Court that the trial will be concluded within the next 6-8 months. Four-and-half months have already passed and arguments on the charge have also not begun,” he said, citing the delay in starting trial as one of the main reasons for seeking bail.

When Special Judge Nagpal asked the counsel to show him one PMLA case where bail was granted due to delay, Mathur said: “While granting bail to co-accused Benoy Babu, the Supreme Court had observed that 13 months of incarceration had elapsed.” He said Babu was given bail based on delay.

“Today, the ED admits that their investigation qua me is complete… No significant progress has taken place in the trial since my arrest,” said Mathur. He argued that the accused was not a flight risk and there is no chance of tampering of evidence.

Appearing for the CBI, Additional Public Prosecutor Pankaj Gupta said there was no delay from their side. “Trial starts after the arguments on charge. We’re trying to start that… the accused are delaying the trial,” he said. “Some high-profile persons may also be arrested in the case since the investigation is ongoing.”