SC fixes August 27 for hearing bail pleas of BRS leader K Kavitha in excise policy case

New Delhi, Aug 20 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed August 27 for hearing bail pleas of BRS leader K. Kavitha, an accused in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.

A bench, headed by Justice B.R. Gavai decided to adjourn the proceedings after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju sought a week's time to file a reply on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

ASG Raju said that the Central Bureau of Investigation has already filed its response in connection with the corruption case.

Last week, the Bench, also comprising Justice K.V. Viswanathan, agreed to examine Kavitha’s pleas and asked the CBI and ED to file their reply. It declined to pass any interim relief without hearing the side of investigative agencies.

The same Bench, on August 9, allowed bail pleas of senior AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the CBI as well as the ED case linked to the same liquor scam.

Kavitha, the daughter of BRS chief and former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, was denied bail by the Delhi High Court on July 1. A bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma said that the material collected in the course of the investigation revealed that she was one of the chief conspirators in the entire conspiracy relating to the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped new excise policy. Kavitha had petitioned the Delhi High Court after a special court here on May 6 turned down her regular bail pleas.

She was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from her Hyderabad home on March 15 and brought to Delhi and later by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on April 11 when she was in Tihar Jail.