SC Refuses Urgent Hearing Of K Kavitha’s Plea Against ED Summons, Schedules Hearing For March 24

The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud who refused immediate hearing and posted the matter on March 24.

K Kavitha was summoned by ED in alleged connection with Delhi excise policy money laundering case on March 16.  ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant urgent hearing on a petition filed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kavitha Kalvakuntla, challenging the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against her in relation to her alleged involvement in the Delhi Excise Policy case.

The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud who refused immediate hearing and posted the matter on March 24.

Kavitha, who is the daughter of Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, was questioned by the agency on March 11 and is required to appear again on Thursday.

Kavitha has approached the Supreme Court saying as per norms a woman cannot be summoned for questioning before ED in office and her questioning should take place at her residence.

The advocate for Kavitha said that a woman is now being summoned by ED for questioning and that it is "completely against the law". Kavitha's lawyer mentioned the plea before a bench headed by CJI Chandrachud and sought an urgent hearing on her petitions.

BRS workers had gathered outside the residence of Telangana CM and party chief K Chandrashekar Rao in support of Kavitha in New Delhi on Saturday.

The BRS attacked the Centre after the ED summoned Kavitha in connection with its ongoing probe in the liquor policy case and said that the central probe agencies have become an extended arm of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

According to ANI sources, Kavitha was to be made to sit face-to-face with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who was arrested in connection with the liquor policy case on Monday night.

The MLC had called the summons "tactics of intimidation" by the Centre against the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and the BRS, adding that the party will continue to fight and expose the Centre's failures and will raise its voice for a brighter and better future for India.

Referring to the summons as "politically motivated", BRS leader Ravula Sridhar Reddy had said that except ED and BJP, nobody really understands the case registered in connection with the new-withdrawn New Delhi excise policy.

The Delhi government's version is that the policy was formulated to ensure the generation of optimum revenue, eradicate the sale of spurious liquor or non-duty paid liquor in Delhi, besides improving user experience, as per ANI.

In December last year, Kavitha, a Telangana Legislative Council member, was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same case.

The CBI had filed a case against alleged corruption in the 2021-22 excise policy. The excise policy was subsequently withdrawn by the AAP government. Sisodia was among 15 others booked in an FIR filed by the CBI.