The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday received permission to interrogate the jailed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha in the money laundering case pertaining to now-scrapped Delhi excise policy-2021-22 scam.
The order for interrogation was passed by Special Judge (PC Act) Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Courts on a plea filed by the CBI to question Ms. Kavitha, who is currently under judicial custody after she was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 15 in the same case.
Terming her arrest ‘illegal’, Ms. Kavitha — daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao — said she would fight against the same.
In its application, the CBI submitted that it was required to interrogate the accused with the evidence which had surfaced against her during the investigation of the case. The agency claimed that it had recovered chats from the phone of Buchi Babu (aide of Ms. Kavitha) and documents related to a land deal after which a bribe of ₹100 crore was paid to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in kickbacks.
L-G’s complaint
The FIR was filed by the CBI on the complaint of the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi alleging multiple irregularities in the formation and implementation of the 2022 Delhi excise policy, which was subsequently withdrawn.
After the CBI case, the ED filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleging that the money earned through the excise policy was diverted through “hawala” channels to be spent on the AAP’s campaign in Goa ahead of the Assembly elections there in 2022.
The ED added that Ms. Kavitha, along with other members of the ‘South Group’, i.e. Sarath Reddy, Raghav Magunta and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, conspired with the top leaders of the AAP and gave them kickbacks.
