BRS MLC K. Kavitha. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 27) granted bail to BRS leader K. Kavitha in both Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases linked to the Delhi excise policy scam.
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Ms. Kavitha shall be released forthwith and appear regularly in the trial court
A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan was hearing Ms. Kavitha’s pleas seeking bail in the corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged scam which are being probed by the CBI and the ED respectively.
The court reasoned that there were 493 witnesses in the cases. The completion of the trial in the near future would be impossible.
The court said the ED has filed its prosecution complaint (equivalent of a chargesheet) and the CBI has filed its chargesheet in the predicate offence. There is no need for her continued custody.
The court granted Ms. Kavitha the special privilege accorded to women, and granted exception from meeting the twin requirements under Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to Section 45 of PMLA, bail can be granted to an accused in a money laundering case only if the twin conditions — there should be prima facie satisfaction that the accused has not committed the offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail — are satisfied.
The Bench slammed the Delhi High Court’s reasoning to deny Kavitha bail. The Single Judge had concluded that Ms. Kavitha did not answer to the description of a “vulnerable woman” and was not eligible to get the exception under the proviso of Section 45(1) of the PMLA, 2002.
The Delhi High Court had dismissed Ms. Kavitha’s bail pleas in both cases, saying she was prima facie one of the main conspirators in the criminal conspiracy related to the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The ED arrested Ms. Kavitha (46) from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15. The CBI arrested her on April 11 from Tihar jail.
On August 9, 2024, the Supreme Court granted bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodiawho spent over 17 months behind bars without trial for money laundering charges linked to the excise policy case.
