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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases linked to the alleged liquor policy scam, setting aside a July 1 order of the Delhi High Court denying her bail.
The order sparked off celebrations among BRS cadre and leaders, with party spokesperson Dasoju Srravan claiming that the court had “subtly hinted” that the case was fabricated. The Bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan, while granting bail, observed that the investigation was complete and the trial would take a long time to conclude.
The ED arrested Kavitha from her Hyderabad residence on March 15 and the CBI arrested her on April 11 while she was in Tihar Jail.
Granting bail, the Bench observed, “As such, custody of the appellant (Kavitha) is not necessary for the purpose of investigation.”
The Supreme Court also asked her to furnish bail bonds of Rs 10 lakh each in the two cases. While asking Kavitha to surrender her passport to the trial court, the Bench said she should not make any attempt to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
The court also questioned the fairness of the probe agencies in investigating the cases and pulled them up for their “pick and choose” approach. It also asked the ED and CBI about the “material” they had to show that Kavitha was involved in the alleged scam.
The CBI in its chargesheet has alleged that the BRS MLC had “demanded, collected and provided” Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for “manipulating and tweaking” the now-scrapped excise policy.
The ED, which is probing the alleged money laundering case related to the alleged scam, claimed that Kavitha was a part of the “South Group” that got “secured, uninhibited access, undue favours, and attained stakes in the established wholesale businesses and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy) from AAP leaders in return of Rs 100 crore. The agency also alleged that the “bribes” received from the “South Group” were funnelled into the AAP’s 2022 Assembly election campaign in Goa. It had named Kavitha as an accused in its sixth supplementary chargesheet, filed on May 10.
In its remand application against the BRS MLC, the ED alleged that Kavitha had met then YSR Congress MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy (now in the TDP) in March 2021 and informed him that AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had demanded Rs 100 crore and asked the MP to arrange half the amount. It was Reddy’s statement that led to her arrest. Kejriwal too is in jail in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.
Appearing for the CBI at the Rouse Avenue court in Delhi, Special Public Prosecutor D P Singh quoted Reddy’s statement to the investigative agency in which he claimed to have met Kejriwal on March 16, 2021, and later Kavitha to discuss opening a liquor business in the capital. “Raghava Magunta (Reddy’s son, who turned approver in the case) also confirmed this,” Singh told the court.
In the chargesheet, the CBI relied on “clinching” WhatsApp chats retrieved from the phone of Kavitha’s “close aide” Gorantla Butchibabu. The agency also detailed the alleged money trail and kickbacks in the supplementary chargesheet. In July, the Delhi court took cognisance of the chargesheet.
The agency alleged that Kavitha’s assistant Ashok Kaushik funnelled the “ill-gotten money” to Goa through hawala channels. It further alleged that the BRS MLC had allegedly paid Rs 14 crore to the AAP, the amount which the company of a Hyderabad-based businessman, P Sarath Reddy (who had turned approver in the case) had paid her under the “guise of a land deal”.
