No relief for K Kavitha as Delhi court sends her to judicial custody until April 9

Counsel Nitesh Rana, representing the accused, submitted a prayer for urgent interim relief citing the upcoming examinations of Kavitha’s minor son. The court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja gave the ED time till April 1 to respond to the prayer.

A member of the Telangana Legislative Council and daughter of former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Kavitha is accused of allegedly paying Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders in return for liquor licences in Delhi.

BRS leader K Kavitha being taken to Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI)

The ED took her into custody from Hyderabad on March 15 and produced her before the Rouse Avenue Court the next day. She was sent to ED custody for seven days and on March 23, the court granted the agency three more days of her custody which ended on Tuesday.

According to the ED, Kavitha’s nephew is also involved in the “transfer/utilisation of proceeds of crime”. The ED had earlier submitted that business details of Kavitha’s nephew, Meka Sharan, were also sought during her statement, but she said that she was unaware of this. The agency alleged a phone belonging to Sharan was seized and he was asked to appear before the agency on two occasions, but he failed to do so.

Calling Kavitha one of the kingpins and key conspirators, the ED in its remand application noted that she “conspired with top leaders of AAP and gave them kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore and in exchange, got undue favours in the Delhi Excise Policy formulation and implementation”.

The application also alleged that she “orchestrated” a deal with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia, wherein she, along with other members of the “South Group”, paid kickbacks “through a string of intermediaries and middlemen” to gain access to the excise policy formation.