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BRS Leader K Kavitha Remanded to Judicial Custody till April 23 in Delhi Excise Policy Case
The Rouse Avenue court in Delhi sent BRS leader K Kavitha to judicial custody until April 23 in connection with the excise policy corruption case. The daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was brought before the court by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following the conclusion of her three-day police custody.
The BRS leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 15, after which she was placed in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) until March 23. Subsequently, on April 11, the CBI detained her and confined her in Tihar jail. Earlier, a Delhi court postponed its decision on the interim bail plea of the BRS leader to April 9. She had requested bail citing her son's upcoming exam as grounds. Prior to her arrest, Kavitha had been summoned for interrogation on multiple occasions, but she failed to appear for at least two of these summons. Last year, she was interrogated three times, during which her statement was recorded by the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
During her recent three-day custody with the CBI, Kavitha was questioned about WhatsApp conversations retrieved from the phone of a co-accused, Buchi Babu, and documents related to a land transaction. These conversations allegedly involved a payment of ₹100 crore in kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in exchange for influencing the excise policy in favor of a liquor lobby. Kavitha's arrest marks the third instance of a high-profile politician being apprehended in this case, following AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh.
Advocate Nitesh Rana, representing Kavitha along with Deepak Nagar, opposed the plea for further custody, arguing that there were insufficient grounds to justify her continued detention since she was no longer needed for interrogation. CBI officials had recently interrogated Kavitha within the prison premises after obtaining permission from a special court. She was probed regarding the aforementioned WhatsApp chats and land deal documents, which allegedly facilitated the kickback payment to the AAP.
