Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha till April 23, 2024, in relation to the excise policy money laundering case. The Special Judge, Kaveri Baweja, allowed the plea of the Enforcement Directorate, stating that she’s made attempts to influence the witnesses, and tampered with evidence and hence her judicial custody should be extended by 14 days. Advocate Nitesh Rana appeared for K Kavitha and opposed the ED plea, stating that there’s nothing new since she was arrested, there are no new grounds. The application doesn’t mention anything.
Meanwhile, the Court had refused to permit K Kavitha to address personally/orally and said she could give her submissions in written form.Advocate Zoheb Hossain along with Naveen Kumar Matta and Simon Benjamin appeared for the Enforcement Directorate in the case while Advocates Nitesh Rana, Deepak Rana and Mohit Rao appeared for accused K Kavitha. Recently, the same court had allowed the CBI plea to quiz/examine K Kavitha during judicial custody in the Tihar Jail on any day of the coming week.
The ED arrested K. Kavitha on March 15, 2024, in connection with a Delhi liquor policy scam and conducted a search at her residence in Hyderabad. The investigation revealed that she conspired with top leaders of AAP, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, to obtain favors in the formulation and implementation of Delhi’s excise policy, allegedly involving kickbacks of 100 crores. During the search proceedings, ED officials were obstructed by her relatives and associates. The court has granted permission for CBI to interrogate her regarding WhatsApp chats and documents related to a land deal.
