The Delhi High Court rejected bail for BRS leader K Kavitha on Monday in connection with the money laundering and corruption cases linked to the alleged liquor policy scam. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma dismissed Kavitha's bail applications in the cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Kavitha remains in judicial custody for both the CBI and ED cases. The trial court had previously denied her bail in both the money laundering and corruption cases on May 6.
Kavitha was arrested by the ED on the evening of March 15. While she was in judicial custody, the CBI also arrested her after obtaining court permission to interrogate her in jail. In this case, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are also accused. Sisodia is still in jail, while Singh was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court following a concession by the ED.
According to the ED, the excise policy was executed as part of a conspiracy to provide a 12 percent wholesale business profit to certain private companies, despite such a condition not being recorded in the minutes of Group of Ministers (GoM) meetings. The agency claims that Kavitha, along with other South Group members Sarath Reddy, Raghav Magunta, and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, conspired with senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders, providing kickbacks totaling Rs. 100 crore in exchange for undue advantages in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy. The ED also alleges that Kavitha arranged a deal with the Delhi Chief Minister and the then Deputy Chief Minister, where she and other South Group members paid kickbacks through intermediaries and middlemen.