Delhi excise scam case: BRS leader Kavitha denied interim bail

New Delhi: A court here on Monday denied interim bail to BRS leader K Kavitha in the Delhi excise policy-related money laundering case.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja dismissed the plea, saying the stage was not right to enlarge her on interim bail.

Kavitha had approached the court for interim bail, saying her 16-year-old son has exams and needs his mother's "moral and emotional support".

The ED had opposed the submission, claiming Kavitha destroyed evidence and influenced witnesses in the case.

Kavitha is one of the kingpins, a key conspirator and a beneficiary of the Delhi Excise Policy Scam. She along with other members of the South Group i.e. Sarath Reddy, Raghav Magunta and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, conspired with the top APP (Aam Aadmi Party) leaders and gave them kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crores and in exchange got undue favours in the Delhi Excise Policy formulation and implementation.

Kavitha orchestrated a deal with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and then deputy CM and then minister of Excise, Manish Sisodia, wherein she, along with other members of the South Group, paid them kickbacks through a string of intermediaries and middlemen. In exchange for the kickbacks paid to the AAP leaders, she had access to the policy formulation and was offered provisions to ensure a favourable position to her.

After producing her in court, the ED said that she was confronted with the statements of four people and a forensic report of the data extracted from her phone. The probe agency also told the court that raids were being conducted at the house of her nephew in Hyderabad.

Kavitha, 46, was arrested from her Banjara Hills residence on March 15 amid protests by BRS supporters.

She was then sent to seven-day ED custody the next day. Her custodial interrogation was later extended by three days. She was sent to 14-day judicial custody last Tuesday.