Delhi court sends K Kavitha to CBI custody till April 15

The court said the evidence showed there was “a need for detailed and sustained interrogation of Kavitha

A Delhi court on Friday remanded Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, K Kavitha, to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) till April 15 in the case registered by the agency probing alleged irregularities in formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy.

K Kavitha (ANI)

The court observed that the evidence placed on record showed that there was “a need for detailed and sustained interrogation of Kavitha”.

“The investigating agency has been able to show from the records that custodial interrogation of the above-named accused on certain aspects is necessary for confronting her with the evidence collected so far and also that the witnesses in order to unearth the larger conspiracy in the matter,” said special judge Kaveri Baweja.

Kavitha was arrested on Thursday by the federal investigating agency from Tihar jail, where she was lodged in judicial custody in a parallel money laundering case, registered by the Enforcement Directorate. CBI sought her custody remand for five days while submitting that during the investigation, it has come to light that she is one of the key conspirators behind the policy.

The court in its order observed that though the custodial remand of the accused cannot be granted only on the contention that the accused did not give satisfactory replies or gave evasive replies, CBI’s prayer must be considered on the materials placed before the court. It was further noted by the court that the submissions of the agency showed there was compliance with the procedure regarding the arrest of Kavitha.

CBI had earlier gone to the Tihar jail on April 6, after taking permission from special judge Baweja on April 5, and quizzed her while she was in judicial custody, regarding WhatsApp chats retrieved from the phone of her former CA Butchibabu Gorantla and some documents and phones retrieved during investigation.

Senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary and advocates Nitesh Rana and Deepak Nagar opposed the application stating that the evidence being claimed by the agency was old. “This evidence and statement on which CBI is relying are much older and have no proximity link or connection with the necessity to arrest,” they argued.

It was also argued that Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has not been followed by the agency as no grounds of arrest were communicated to her.

The court also directed that Kavitha’s interrogation shall be conducted at a place having CCTV coverage and she shall be medically examined every 48 hours. The court allowed her to meet her counsel every day for half an hour and her husband, Anil Kumar, brother, KT Rama Rao and PA, Sharath Chandra Vala, every day for fifteen minutes.

To date, she has not been named in any of the chargesheets filed by CBI or ED.