The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on BRS leader K Kavitha's pleas seeking bail in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. In the notice, the top court sought responses from the central probe agencies. SC posted the matter for further hearing on August 20.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan agreed to hear Kavitha's pleas challenging the Delhi High Court's verdict denying her bail in these cases.
The high court had on July 1 dismissed Kavitha's bail pleas in both the cases, saying she was prima facie one of the main conspirators in the criminal conspiracy related to the formation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the policy.
The ED arrested Kavitha (46) from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15 and the CBI held her on April 11 in connection with the corruption case linked to the alleged scam.
Earlier on August 10, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the pleas filed by Kavitha challenging the Delhi High Court's verdict denying her bail.
While dismissing her bail pleas, the high court had said no case for grant of regular bail was made for now as the investigation is at a crucial stage.
It had rejected her plea for relief on the grounds of being a woman, saying as a well-educated person and a former MP, she cannot be equated to a vulnerable female, and the court cannot lose sight of the "serious allegations" against her.
It had noted the material collected by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has pointed out that Kavitha was one of the chief conspirators in the entire conspiracy relating to the formulation and implementation of the policy.
In the high court, Kavitha had challenged the May 6 order of a trial court which had dismissed her bail applications in the CBI's corruption case as well as the ED's money-laundering case.
The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the policy.
In her bail plea filed in the high court in the ED case, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, had said she had "nothing to do" with the excise policy and there was a criminal conspiracy against her "orchestrated by the ruling party at the Centre with the active connivance of the ED".
(With PTI inputs)
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