Another weekend in jail for BRS MLC Kavitha as Court reserves verdict on interim bail plea

Appearing for Kavitha, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted the court is not “straight-jacketed” by the twin conditions for grant of bail under PMLA and is free to exercise discretion to grant the relief, reported LiveLaw.

On 26 March, the court had sent Kavitha to judicial custody till 9 April.

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The arguments in court

He argued that she should get the benefit of bail under the proviso to Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“The basic principle of woman, rationale of legislature and discretion, all these things are preserved,” he said.

Section 45 of the PMLA states that bail can be granted to an accused in a money laundering case only if twin conditions are satisfied — there should be prima facie satisfaction that the accused has not committed the offence and that he/she is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

The provision also states that a woman (and other categories so mentioned) may be released on bail if the special court directs so.

Singhvi also told the court that it should consider the fact that her 16-year-old son would be having his examination and that he needed his mother’s attention.

However, advocate Zoheb Hossain, appearing for the ED, opposed both the reasons put forward by Singhvi.

“The accused in question is one of the prime movers of giving bribes. She is not only part of arranging kickbacks in advance but also beneficiary through Indo Spirits. I am not relying on statements alone. I’ve material, WhatsApp documents etc. There is direct proceed of crimes through bank accounts, where she is a beneficiary,” Zoheb said.

Zoheb said that Kavitha has a close-knit family and that her three sisters are available for emotional support for her son.

”It’s not as if the young person will be bereft of any kind of attention. If this kind of application is allowed, the rigours will be thrown out of the window. The exam anxiety referred to may be general phenomena but there is no evidence to show that the young person suffers from it. It’s not a casual problem, it’s a notified disorder. Not a single medical document to demonstrate examination anxiety to the young person,” he said.

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The arrest

ED arrested Kavitha on 15 March, the day when Additional Solicitor General SV Raju told the Supreme Court that they were taking back their assurance that the ED would not arrest Kavitha.

After her arrest, Kavitha withdrew her petition from the Supreme Court.

In the petition, she had challenged the issue of summons to her to appear at the ED office since she was allowed certain privileges as she was a woman. With her arrest, the petition had become infructuous.

The ED has accused Kavitha of being the kingpin of the so-called South Group, which allegedly paid ₹100 crore to AAP leaders to tweak the Delhi liquor policy to suit them.

The other members of the South Group, the ED said, were Sarath Chandra Reddy, Raghav Magunta, and MP Magunta Srinivasul Reddy.

The ED accused Kavitha of working hand in glove with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.