K Kavitha, leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has abruptly changed her mind and will not be appearing before the Enforcement Directorate today. She informed the ED office of her choice by sending BRS’s general secretary Soma Bharath Kumar there. What the ED will do next is unclear. According to sources, the investigation agency is unlikely to accept this and will insist on her appearance.
Ms Kavitha was summoned by the probe agency today for questioning in a money laundering case related to the Delhi spirits policy case, but she had previously approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing, claiming that as a woman, she cannot be summoned to the ED office and that the probe agency’s representatives must instead visit her. She informed the ED that the case was pending in the Supreme Court.
According to Ms Kavitha’s lawyer, it is “completely against the law” for her to be summoned to the ED office. Therefore, he requested an urgent hearing. Neither the CBI nor the ED has named her as an accused.
On March 24, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha agreed to hear her request.
Her party, BRS, staged a massive rally in Delhi today. BRS’s ministers and top leaders have flown to the national capital to show their support for K Kavitha, the party’s most visible face.
On March 11, the Enforcement Directorate also questioned Ms Kavitha in the same case for several hours. Today she was summoned for the third time.
Ms Kavitha, 44, has also challenged the seizure of her phone.
K Kavitha has claimed that the ED summons is the result of a political conspiracy. Her party leaders have also stated that the investigation agency has become an extension of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BRS leader claims she was summoned by the investigation agency based on statements she made under threat and coercion.
Ms Kavitha’s former auditor, Hyderabad-based chartered accountant Butchibabu Gorantla, and Hyderabad-based spirits businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who was arrested in connection with the liquor policy case on Monday night, were also questioned in the case yesterday. The investigators have linked Ms Kavitha with both of them, calling them part of the “south group”.
Notably, former Delhi constable CM Manish Sisodia has been arrested by the ED in the same case for allegedly favouring a “south group” in the formulation of the Delhi excise policy. On March 21, a special court will hear his bail request in the CBI case.
The BJP has been targeting BRS with corruption allegations. KCR has been repeatedly targeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for dynasty politics and corruption.
The action against the BRS leader comes as the party prepares to go national, showcasing the “Telangana model” to the rest of the country.
