Delhi excise policy case: K Kavitha remanded to CBI custody till April 15

A Delhi court on Friday remanded BRS leader K Kavitha to CBI custody till April 15 in the Delhi liquor policy case. The CBI arrested her under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 477-A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 (offence relating to public servant being bribed) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Earlier in the day, the CBI claimed that Kavitha was responsible for collecting a Rs 100 crore kickback from a liquor baron. The probe agency said that a businessman from the south met Arvind Kejriwal at his office seeking his support and the Chief Minister told him that K Kavitha will contact him.

The CBI further claimed that K Kavitha, BRS leader from Telangana, then contacted that businessman and asked him to meet in Hyderabad. She gave reference to the person’s meeting with the Delhi Chief Minister and also said Vijay Nair was in touch with her. Nair, who was AAP's media coordinator, is another accused in the case.

The CBI had questioned Kavitha inside the prison on WhatsApp chats recovered from co-accused Buchi Babu's phone and documents related to a land deal after which Rs 100 crore was allegedly paid to Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in kickbacks to influence the now-scrapped excise policy in favour of a liquor lobby.

During the investigation, it was revealed that there existed a complex web of transactions, including a purported exchange of funds between a liquor businessman and AAP officials, with Kavitha allegedly facilitating the arrangement.

On Friday, BRS leader K Kavitha said the whole case of the Delhi Excise Policy 'scam' was fake and fabricated.

Kavitha was previously arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a parallel money laundering case and is currently lodged in Tihar jail.