Kavitha sent to judicial custody till April 23

THE Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on April 15 sent BRS leader K Kavitha to judicial custody till April 23 in the alleged Delhi liquor excise policy scam case.

The case registered by CBI is regarding the alleged irregularities in the formation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22.

The CBI produced the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao before the court on Monday on expiry of her three-day police custody granted earlier by the judge and sought her judicial custody.

Advocate Nitesh Rana, representing Kavitha along with Deepak Nagar, opposed the police plea, saying the grounds were not sufficient to keep her in custody since she is no longer required for custodial interrogation.

Recently, the CBI questioned Kavitha about the WhatsApp chats recovered from co-accused Buchi Babu's phone. She was also interrogated over documents related to a land deal, after which an amount of ₹100 crore was allegedly paid to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in kickbacks to swing the excise policy in favour of a liquor lobby.

The CBI informed the Special Court on April 13 that the BRS leader "threatened" Aurobindo Pharma promoter Sharath Chandra Reddy to pay ₹25 crore to the AAP for the five retail zones allocated to his company under Delhi's new excise policy.

Kavitha had told Reddy that in case he did not pay the amount to the AAP government in the national capital, his business would be harmed in Telangana and Delhi, CBI alleged.

Kavita was arrested by the anti-money laundering agency ED from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15.