May 10th 2024.
On Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took another step in the ongoing Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. According to official sources, they filed a fresh charge sheet that named BRS leader K Kavitha as an accused. Kavitha, who is the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested from her Hyderabad residence on March 15.
The ED has been investigating this case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The special judge for CBI and ED cases, Kaveri Baweja, is expected to review the charge sheet on May 13. It is also speculated that a similar complaint will be filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal next week. This is the seventh charge sheet filed by the ED in this case, and they have already arrested 18 individuals, including Kejriwal. However, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail on Friday.
The ED's allegations revolve around Kavitha's involvement in the 'South Group', which is accused of providing kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In return, they were promised a significant share of liquor licenses in Delhi. The ED claims that this was part of the excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped due to allegations of corruption and cartelization of liquor traders.
The agency has labeled Kavitha as a key member, a key conspirator, and a beneficiary of this scam. According to their investigation, Kavitha orchestrated a deal with Kejriwal and then deputy chief minister and minister of excise Manish Sisodia. They allege that she, along with other members of the South Group, paid kickbacks through intermediaries and middlemen to secure a favorable position in the policy formulation.
The ED also claims that Kavitha was involved in various activities related to proceeds of crime, amounting to at least Rs 292.8 crore. In a related development, the Delhi High Court has asked the ED to respond to Kavitha's bail plea in this case. She was also arrested by the CBI while under judicial custody in the ED's case. However, the trial court refused to grant her relief, stating that her role "prima facie appears as that of a key conspirator."
Kavitha's bail plea in the high court states that she has no involvement in the excise policy and is being falsely implicated by the ruling party with the help of the ED. She argues that there is no evidence against her, and the witness statements used against her are questionable. In the ED's case, they allege that Rs 45 crore out of the Rs 100 crore bribe given by the South Group was used for the AAP's election campaign in Goa in 2022.
The South Group liquor lobby includes Kavitha, TDP Ongole seat Lok Sabha candidate Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Reddy, and others. The excise case relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V K Saxena, recommended a CBI probe into the matter, and the ED registered a case under the PMLA. They began their investigation on August 22, 2022, after taking cognizance of the CBI's FIR, which was filed on August 17, 2022.
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