The Supreme Court on Friday asked Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha to approach the trial court for bail in the Delhi liquor policy case, Live Law reported.
The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela Trivedi told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Kavitha, that the bail plea can be tagged with the batch of petitions that seek reconsideration of a July 2022 verdict upholding amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested on March 15 by the Enforcement Directorate for her alleged involvement in the liquor policy case after a raid at her home in Hyderabad. She was taken to Delhi for questioning.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Kavitha, among others, conspired with senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia, to secure favours in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy.
On Friday, Sibal urged the Supreme Court not to direct the petitioner to the High Court.
“Hear it, decide it against me, I do not mind,” Sibal said. “But see what is happening in our country. Every statement is of an approver, there is not a single piece of evidence. It is contrary to this Court’s order.”
The bench, however, directed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi legislator to approach the trial court for bail and stated that it would not agree to bypass the statutory procedure just because the accused is a politician.
However, the court directed that her bail plea “be decided expeditiously”, Bar and Bench reported.
After the hearing concluded, Sibal told the bench that when the history of the Supreme Court is written, “this will not be a golden period”.
“Let’s see,” Justice Khanna replied, according to Live Law.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday on charges of corruption and money laundering in the Delhi liquor excise policy case.
Hours before Kejriwal’s arrest, electoral bond data released by the Election Commission showed a company linked to another person accused in the same case, P Sarath Chandra Reddy, had donated Rs 5 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2022, just five days after Reddy was taken in custody. Another Rs 25 crore was donated to the BJP after Reddy turned approver in the case.
Also read: In Delhi liquor policy case, approver’s firm paid Rs 30 crore to the BJP – after ED arrest
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