 "Delhi liquor policy case: BRS leader K Kavitha sent to jail till April 9")
Kavitha, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 15 in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam that has embroiled the city's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had been in the agency's custody. Last week, her custody was extended to allow for confrontation with data extracted from her mobile phone.
In a surprising turn of events today, the ED sought only 15-day judicial custody for Kavitha. This means that she is likely to be transferred to Delhi's Tihar Jail instead of remaining in the agency's lock-up.
'Fabricated and false case'
Meanwhile, the BRS leader hit out at her critics as she was taken from Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court.
Claiming that the case against her "is not money laundering but political laundering", K Kavitha pointed out that her accusers had either joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or donated money to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party (Rs 50 crore via the controversial and now-scrapped electoral bonds).
"It is a fabricated and false case. One accused has joined BJP, second is getting a BJP ticket, and third accused gave Rs 50 crore in electoral bonds. This is political laundering... we will come out clean," she said.
What ED told Rouse Avenue court
In the remand request submitted to the court today, the ED stated that "it is evident K Kavitha is involved in the acts of payment of kickbacks to government functionaries to gain illegal benefits in the excise policy formulation and implementation..." The agency also alleged that the BRS leader is "actually involved in the transfer of proceeds of crime of Rs 100 crore... which was paid to AAP leaders".
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Additionally, the agency referred to Kavitha's failure to respond to the summons and claimed she had not provided true and complete disclosure and had not cooperated with the investigation.
K Kavitha's bail plea
Kavitha, meanwhile, has applied for interim bail, citing her minor son's upcoming school exams. As directed by the Supreme Court, the bail plea is scheduled to be heard by a lower court on April 1.
The request was countered by the agency, which wanted to be heard before such an order is passed, pointing to stringent provisions governing bail for those charged under the Money Laundering Act.
Why did ED arrest K Kavitha?
The ED has accused Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, of being a key member of the 'South Group' that allegedly bribed the AAP with Rs 100 crore in exchange for liquor licences under the Delhi government's now-scrapped policy.
The ED also believes the AAP used this money to fund its election campaigns in Goa and Punjab.
Following her arrest from Hyderabad, in dramatic circumstances that involved a verbal spat between her brother and former Telangana minister, KT Rama Rao and a team of ED officials, Kavitha had also approached the apex court. However, her appeal was swiftly shot down.
A special bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh, and Bela Trivedi said they could not allow individuals to bypass the lower courts simply because they were persons of influence.
The court did, however, issue a notice to the Centre on her petition challenging the validity of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), under which she was arrested.
The Centre was given six weeks to respond.