Achi news desk-
BRS leader K Kavitha has been brought into CBI custody in the liquor policy scam case
Guwahati: Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia has approached a Delhi court seeking interim bail to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Sisodia is currently in judicial custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy fraud case.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Courts sought responses from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sisodia’s interim bail application. The issue was brought up for discussion on April 20. The request for additional time to file replies was filed by Special Counsel Zohab Hussain representing the ED, and counsel appearing for the CBI.
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Advocate Vivek Jain appeared for Sisodia in court. The AAP leader was first arrested by the CBI on February 26 last year and then by the ED on March 9.
Sisodia’s bail pleas have been consistently rejected by the trial court, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court in both the ED and CBI cases. His review petitions and the curative petitions against the rejection of bail were also rejected by the Supreme Court.
In the FIR filed by the CBI, Sisodia and others are accused of influencing decisions regarding the 2021-22 excise policy without proper authorization, allegedly to favor licensees after the auction. The ED alleges that the policy was implemented as part of a conspiracy to provide undue benefits to certain private companies.
The director further alleges that there was coordination to provide extraordinary profit margins to the wholesalers, allegedly under the direction of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Sisodia. Sisodia’s bail pleas in both cases were rejected by special judge MK Nagpal last year, following which the Delhi High Court and then the Supreme Court upheld the decisions.
Despite repeated attempts, Sisodia failed to secure bail, with the Supreme Court rejecting his bail plea on October 30 last year.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Friday granted Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody to BRS leader K Kavitha till April 15 in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Courts issued the order after Kweta was produced in the court after her arrest by the investigating agency the previous day.
According to the CBI, Kavitha is considered one of the main conspirators in the liquor policy case and is believed to be hiding vital information. The agency requested a five-day remand to interrogate her.
Kavitha was previously arrested on March 15 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the excise policy. At the time of her arrest by the CBI, Kavitha was in judicial custody. The CBI got permission from the court to interrogate her in jail.
In its remand application, CBI alleged that Kavitha had promised Sarath Reddy assistance in the liquor business under the excise policy, leveraging her alleged connections in the Delhi government. In addition, she allegedly demanded Rs. 25 crores from Sarath Chandra Reddy for the retail areas allotted to him, specifying an advance payment of Rs. 100 crores to Aam Aadmi Party through Vijay Nair.
The CBI argued that the investigation of Kavitha is necessary to investigate evidence related to her involvement in the criminal conspiracy regarding the formulation and implementation of the excise policy. Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary, representing Kavitha, argued against the legality of her arrest, arguing that the evidence presented by the CBI in the custody application was more than a year old, raising questions about the timing of her arrest.
Chaudhary disputed the CBI’s claim that Kweta provided inadequate and evasive answers during the investigation, stating that the evidence was irrelevant to the necessity of her arrest. He further claimed that Kavitha, being a prominent political figure, is unfairly targeted and that no fair procedure was followed in her arrest.
Recently, the judge rejected temporary bail for her in the money laundering case, when her usual application for bail is scheduled to be heard on April 20.
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The ED accused Kavitha of being a key player and beneficiary in the Excise policy scam, alleging her involvement in a conspiracy with other members of the South group to offer shots to AAP leaders in exchange for favorable policy provisions.
The ED also alleged that Kavitha orchestrated a deal with the Delhi Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, and facilitated returns through brokers and middlemen.
