A Delhi court on Tuesday remanded Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha to judicial custody till April 9 in the Delhi liquor excise policy case after the Enforcement Directorate said that her further custodial interrogation was not required, The Hindu reported.
The court, meanwhile, has scheduled the hearing on her bail plea for April 1. She has sought bail on the grounds of her son’s exam.
On Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate opposed Kavitha’s bail application before the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi. It said that Kavitha was not cooperating in its investigation and sought her custody until March 28. The court had granted the agency her custody until March 26.
Kavitha, an MLC in Telangana, is the daughter of the state’s former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. She had been arrested from her Hyderabad residence on March 15 in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case.
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.
Kavitha is alleged to be a part of a so-called South Group that paid “Rs 100 crore to the leaders of AAP” in exchange for the favours through businessman Vijay Nair.
The central law enforcement agency has alleged that about Rs 45 crore of this money was utilised by the Aam Aadmi Party for its 2022 Goa Assembly election campaign. The money allegedly reached Goa through a network of informal cash couriers with links to the Aam Aadmi Party and members of the South Group.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s Goa unit chief Amit Palekar has denied the allegations.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 on charges of corruption and money laundering in the case. On Friday night, the Rouse Avenue Court sent him to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody until March 28.
Two senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders – Sisodia and Sanjay Singh – are also currently in jail in connection with the case.
Also read: ‘He has done good work’: In Kejriwal’s constituency, strong support from people on the margins
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