Kavitha sent to ED custody in Delhi excise policy scam

The Rouse Avenue court on Saturday sent BRS MLC, K Kavitha into the custody of Enforcement Directorate till March 23.

The ED on Friday arrested Kavitha, who is also the daughter former chief minister of Telangana, K Chandrasekhar Rao in connection with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

In its plea for custody the ED alleged that along with other members of the ‘South Group’ – Sarath Reddy, Raghav Magunta, and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Kavitha conspired with top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, providing them kickbacks amounting to Rs 100 crore, and in return, they received undue favours in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy.

The ED’s application said, “K. Kavitha orchestrated a deal with CM, Delhi Govt, Arvind Kejriwal and then Dy CM and then Minister of Excise, Manish Sisodia, wherein she, along with other members of the South Group, paid them kickbacks through a string of intermediaries and middlemen. In exchange for the kickbacks paid to the leaders of AAP, she had access to the policy formulation and was offered provisions to ensure a favourable position to her.”

The ED also alleged that she further got stakes in the partnership of Indo Spirits, through her dummy Arun Pillai, without substantial investment in this firm and distribution business of Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd, which is one of the biggest manufacturers in the country and thus made Indo Spirits, the most profitable L1 in the Delhi Excise policy 2021-22 period and thus recouped proceeds of crime in guise of profits.

“Further, in the policy, the profit margin of the wholesaler was increased to 12 per cent so that out of this margin, a portion of it could be taken back as kickbacks. This was done to create a continuous stream of illegal funds for the AAP in the form of kickbacks from the wholesalers and for the South group to recover the kickbacks paid and further generate profits from this entire conspiracy,” the application claimed.

The ED claimed that Kavitha and the others paid Rs 100 crore bribes to the top leaders of the AAP which is evident from the statement of Srinivasulu Reddy, dated July 14, 2023, recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA and his statement dated July 17, 2023, recorded under Section 164 of CrPC.