Delhi excise policy scam case: BRS leader K Kavitha will today (March 16) not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in order to face the questioning in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy matter.
BRS MLC has sent one of her representative who will produce all the relevant documents before the agency in Delhi on Thursday.
ED has also sent fresh summon to Kavitha for questioning on March 20 (Monday) in Delhi liquor polkicy matter.
"I take pride in representing K Kavitha in this case. Today, I came here with a representation signed by her that ED should follow CrPC 160 and Section 50 of PMLA Act and they forced her to appear before them in office after 6:00 pm which is against the law. Our writ petition in SC is coming up on March 24. This is a fabricated case with ill motivation," said Soma Bharat Kumar.
Earlier, heavy security was deployed outside the Delhi residence of BRS MLC ahead of her questioning by Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case on Thursday.
ED Questioning Round 1:
Earlier, she was deposed before ED for around nine hours on Saturday (March 11) for recording her statement. The 44-year-old daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao left the federal agency's headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road at around 8:00 pm amid a heavy presence of her supporters.
She had reached the ED office from her father's official residence on Tughlak Road, located about 1.5 kilometres away, at around 11:00 am. Official sources said during the nine hours she spent at the ED office, she was confronted with the statements made by Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, an arrested accused in the case who allegedly shares close ties with her, apart from those of a few others involved in the case.
Kavitha's statement was previously recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. Pillai, an alleged frontman of the "south group", was arrested by the ED earlier this week. Pillai, meanwhile, has moved a city court accusing the ED of forging his statements in this matter. There was a heavy presence of Delhi Police and central paramilitary forces personnel for barricading the ED office as the supporters of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader staged a protest, during both Kavitha's entry and exit from the ED office.
Kavitha recently asserted during a press conference that she had done nothing wrong and alleged that the BJP-led Centre was using the ED as the saffron party could not gain a backdoor entry in Telangana. The "south group", according to the ED, "comprises" Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Pharma), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (YSR Congress MP from the Ongole Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh), his son Raghav Magunta, Kavitha and others.
The ED also alleged in Pillai's remand papers that he represented the benami investments of Kavitha in the case. The BRS leader was earlier questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the case. The ED has so far arrested 12 people in the case, including former Delhi deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia.
It has also recorded the statement of Butchi Babu, a chartered accountant allegedly linked to Kavitha, where he said "there was political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and the deputy chief minister (Sisodia). In that process, K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair on March 19-20, 2021".
Nair was arrested in the case by both the ED and the CBI. Butchi Babu has been arrested by the CBI. According to Butchi Babu's statement, Nair was "trying to impress Kavitha with what he could do in the (excise) policy". "Vijay Nair was acting on behalf of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia," the statement recorded by the ED read.
It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
(With agencies inputs)
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