The Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday sent BRS leader K Kavitha to judicial custody till April 9 in the alleged money laundering case connected to the now scrapped Delhi Liquor policy. Last week, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the same case. Kejriwal has been sent into 6 days of ED remand by a Delhi court.
Earlier in the day, while she was being taken to the court, K Kavitha took a jibe at the ED and government and told reporters that this was not a money laundering case but a political laundering case.
Kavitha, who is also the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was arrested earlier this month for being part of the ‘South Group’.
According to the ED, in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam, wholesale liquor business was given to private entities. Under this new excise policy a 12% margin was fixed, for a 6% kickback. The ED alleged that the policy was formulated with deliberate loopholes which promoted cartel formations through the back door to benefit AAP leaders.
According to ED, AAP leaders got kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore from the “South Group” linked to K Kavitha.
The ED claims that the South Group got uninhibited access, undue favours, and secured stakes in established wholesale businesses and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy).
According to ED, partners of this South Group were given a 65% stake in Indospirit in collusion with its owner Sameer Mahendru (another accused in this case).
This was allegedly done to recover kickbacks given by the South Group.
ED has claimed that Buchi Babu who was CA to K Kavitha has revealed that Arun Pillai was working with Vijay Nair in policy formulation and Nair was offering provision for favouring K Kavitha. Nair worked with Sisodia and Kejriwal for the same, says ED's remand note in court.