Excise ‘scam’: Kavitha moves HC for bail, court to hear plea on May 16

New Delhi: BRS leader K Kavitha approached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday seeking bail in the corruption case lodged by the CBI in connection with the alleged excise policy scam.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma is scheduled to hear the bail plea on Thursday along with her petition against a trial court order which allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to interrogate her.

Kavitha is in judicial custody in both the cases lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI in relation to the alleged scam.

Her bail application in the ED case is pending before the high court. On May 6, the trial court had dismissed Kavitha’s bail application in the corruption case as well as the money laundering case being probed by the ED.

The “scam” pertains to the alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 which was later scrapped.

The ED arrested Kavitha (46) from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15, and she was in judicial custody in the case.

The CBI arrested the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader from judicial custody.

On May 10, the high court granted time to the ED to file its response to Kavitha’s plea for bail in the money laundering case and listed the matter for further hearing on May 24.

In her bail plea in the ED case, the BRS leader, represented by advocate Nitesh Rana, has said she has “nothing to do” with the excise policy and there is a criminal conspiracy against her, “orchestrated by the ruling party at the Centre with the active connivance of the Enforcement Directorate”.