Meanwhile, ED told the Supreme Court that it would not enforce its summons asking her to appear before it on 15 September.
BRC MLC K Kavitha. (RaoKavitha/Twitter)
In a breather to BRS MLC K Kavitha, for now, the Supreme Court on Friday, 15 September, posted her plea against a fresh summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for hearing on 26 September.
Meanwhile, the ED told the court that it would not enforce its summons issued on 14 September, asking her to appear before it on 15 September.
Posting the matter for hearing on 26 September, a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju (for ED) whether the bench should pass an order that they would not enforce the summons issued on 14 September asking Kavitha to appear before it.
The ED said that they were deferring the enforcement of the summons against her till 26 September.
The ED is investigating Kavitha for her alleged involvement in money laundering rooted in the implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.
The advocate appearing for Kavitha urged the top court to pass an order in her (Kavitha’s) case, similar to one that was passed in senior advocate Nalini Chidambaram’s case, and decide the main issue pending before the court.
The top court had, by an order on 3 August, 2018, extended an earlier interim order passed by the Madras High Court protecting Nalini Chidambaram from any coercive steps. The same continues to be extended. She was summoned by the ED in connection with the Saradha Chit Fund scam case.
The top court seized a batch of petitions, including by Kavitha, in which she contended whether she needed to be interrogated at her home or in the ED office in Delhi. The court had earlier issued notice in similar petitions of Nalini Chidambaram and Abhishek Banerjee
The ED said that Section 160 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is not applicable in PMLA cases in pursuance to the top court judgement upholding stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Kavitha, in her petition, urged the top court to quash the 7 and 11 March and the 14 September summons by the ED stating that asking her to appear at the agency’s office instead of her residence was contrary to the settled tenets of criminal jurisprudence and thus, wholly unsustainable in law being violative of the proviso to Section 160 of CrPC.
She has also sought that the seizure made by the ED be declared null and void.
The BRS leader also sought that all proceedings to be carried out by ED, including those in relation to the recording of statements be audio/videographed, in the presence of her lawyer at a visible distance, inter-alia by way of installation of appropriate CCTV cameras.
Alleging political conspiracy by certain members of the ruling BJP at the Centre, Kavitha, in her petition, alleged that despite her not being named in the FIR, certain members of the incumbent ruling political party at Centre made scandalous statements linking her to the Delhi Excise Policy and the said FIR.
“The political conspiracy against the Petitioner (Kavitha) unfortunately did not end with judicial intervention by way of the suit. The Enforcement Directorate filed a remand application qua one of the accused on 30.11.2022 before the concerned court. This remand application contained the personal contact details of the petitioner,” she said in the petition.
“There was no rhyme or reason to include the personal contact details of the petitioner in a remand application which did not even concern the petitioner. The act is all the more egregious considering the petitioner is a lady,” she added.
Kavitha said that the subsequent events were “extremely shameful” and in the “belief of the Petitioner (Kavitha), were orchestrated by the ED at the behest of the members of the incumbent ruling party at the Centre, as part of a larger conspiracy against her.
In a press conference in Nizamabad on Thursday, Kavitha said that further action regarding the summons would be taken after consulting with the BRS party leaders and its legal team.
“We will go by the advice of the party leaders. We strongly believe that the ED summons is politically motivated because of the upcoming elections in Telangana,” Kavitha said.
“Targeting the leaders of the ruling party using central investigation agencies is the modus operandi of the BJP in every poll-bound state,” claimed Kavitha, adding that the summons was not “ED notice, but Modi notice”.
According to the ED, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication head Vijay Nair, on behalf of AAP leaders, received kickbacks to the tune of ₹100 crore from a so-called “South Group” — as termed in the statements of various persons recorded during the investigation — to manipulate the Delhi excise policy to benefit them.
According to the CBI, the prominent names in the “South Group” include YSRCP MP Magunta Srinuvasulu Reddy, his son Raghava, and Kavitha.
Arun Ramachandran Pillai was also arrested by the ED on the contention that he was among the three key representatives of Kavitha.
Apart from Pillai, the two other representatives of Kavitha are said to be beauty salon chain owner Abhishek Boinpally and chartered accountant Gorantla Butchibabu.
May 20, 2024
May 20, 2024
May 20, 2024
May 19, 2024
May 19, 2024
May 19, 2024
