Excise scam: HC dismisses BRS leader K Kavitha's bail pleas in corruption, money-laundering cases

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed BRS leader K Kavitha's bail pleas in two cases of corruption and money laundering linked to the alleged excise policy scam.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who had reserved the order on the two bail pleas of Kavitha on May 28, rejected the petitions.

A detailed order is awaited.

Kavitha had challenged the trial court's May 6 order by which her bail applications in the CBI's corruption case as well as the ED's money-laundering case were dismissed.

Kavitha's lawyer submitted that of the 50 accused in the excise case, she is the lone woman and urged the court to consider granting her bail as law keeps women on a different pedestal.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed Kavitha's bail pleas, saying she is powerful enough to influence witnesses.

Kavitha is in judicial custody in the two cases.

The "scam" pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped.

The ED arrested Kavitha (46) from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15. The CBI arrested her in the Tihar jail.

In her bail plea in the ED case, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, had said she had "nothing to do" with the excise policy and there was a criminal conspiracy against her "orchestrated by the ruling party at the Centre with the active connivance of the ED".