BRS cadres heaved a sigh of relief as Kavitha walked out of the ED office in Delhi after a grilling of close to 10 hours.
BRS MLC leaving the ED office after almost 10 hours of questioning on 20 March. (Supplied)
BRS leaders and cadres heaved a sigh of relief when MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter Kavitha Kalvakuntla walked out of the office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi at about 9.10 pm, on Monday, 20 March, after going through a grilling for close to 10 hours.
According to reliable sources, ED has asked her to appear before it again on Tuesday, 21 March. Kavitha will now have to take a call on whether to appear or not.
Honouring the notice given to her by the ED to appear before it on Monday in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy scam, Kavitha went inside its office on APJ Abdul Kalam Road at about 10.25 am.
She took the decision to appear before the ED after going through the pros and cons of skipping it once again with her legal team and her brother and IT minister KT Rama Rao.
Her deposition before the ED on Monday was her second. She had already appeared before the ED on 11 March, but skipped the second hearing which was to have taken place on 16 March.
BRS MLC K Kavitha entering the ED office on 20 March for her questioning. (Supplied)
The daylong questioning on Monday kept the BRS leaders on their toes. Much to their relief, she came out of the ED office and entered her car, flashing a victory sign.
Tension prevailed at the ED office throughout the day on Monday and late into the night. The party workers appeared agitated when they saw a team of doctors suddenly appearing at the office.
Sources said the investigators, assisted by a woman officer, questioned Kavitha about her political links with the former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who was arrested by the ED in the scam.
The investigators grilled her with the help of a questionnaire prepared with help of information collected from the statements given by Sisodia and her three alleged proxies — Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramachandra Pillai, beauty salon chain owner Abhishek Boinpally and chartered accountant Gorantla Butchibabu.
In the presence of Pillai and Sisodia, the ED officials are learnt to have questioned her and tried to collect more information.
They are said to have rained questions on her about her alleged involvement in the scam and the ₹100 crore in kickbacks paid to the Aam Admi Party (AAP) media in-charge and Sisodia’s representative Vijay Nair, and how she was associated with the company IndoSpirits of Sameer Mahendru.
It is learnt that the ED team also questioned her on the alleged tampering of evidence by damaging her previous mobile phones after the scam came to light. It primarily focussed on how she came in contact with Sisodia and how the amount was paid to the AAP with the help of her three representatives.
The Delhi Police maintained tight security at the ED office on coming to know a large number of BRS followers thronging the premises in support of Kavitha. They placed barricades to restrict the entry of unauthorised persons into the office.
Meanwhile, the ED issued a fresh notice to YSRCP MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, asking him to appear before it at its office in New Delhi on 21 March.
Srinivasulu Reddy is also alleged to be a key member in the so-called “South Group”, along with Kavithat and his son Raghava Magunta, who has already been arrested by the ED in the same scam.
BRS MLC K Kavitha leaving her father and CM KCR’s Delhi residence to go to the ED office for questioning on 20 March. (Supplied)
South First has learnt that the BRS brass had advised Kavitha, who skipped the second summons, to appear before the ED as it would make her appear as a law-abiding citizen.
The BRS MLC apparently was convinced that appearing before the ED would work more in her favour as a law-abiding citizen and not carry the taint that she was dodging the investigation as she had something to hide.
So, on Monday morning, clad in a sea green saree, Kavitha stepped out of her car at about 10.25 am and entered the ED’s office. Before she went inside, her husband Anil gave her a hug in an expression of moral support. Kavitha did not appear flustered and was smiling back at supporters.
The decision to go ahead and depose came after the ED issued a notice to her late Sunday night saying it cannot allow any further deferment of her appearance before them.
The ED apparently issued the fresh notice after making sure that Kavitha had left Hyderabad and landed in Delhi.
The ED’s notice to her is also understood to be in response to a second letter she sent to the agency after she skipped questioning on 16 March, in which she said she was open to questioning via video conferencing and also reiterating that the interrogation be deferred till after the Supreme Court heard her petition on 24 March.
The BRS MLC had, on 16 March, sent a letter through her emissary that since she is protected by law from appearing before the ED at their office since she was woman, she would not be able to comply with their summons.
Kavitha seems to have changed her tack and decided to cooperate with the ED apparently after all the options before her had exhausted. Even before she appeared before the ED on 16 March, she moved the Supreme Court, with a plea to prevent the ED from summoning her to its office.
Though the apex court did not give her any relief, it admitted the petition and will it hear it on 24 March.
The ED, knowing the date of the Supreme Court hearing, issued a fresh notice to her on 16 March itself, communicating the next date of hearing as 20 March. The ED also filed a caveat in the apex court with a plea that it may not issue any orders without hearing the agency on 24 March.
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