Excise policy case: Delhi court denies interim bail to K Kavitha

A Delhi court on Monday, 8 April, denied interim bail to BRS leader K Kavitha, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, saying prima facie she not only destroyed evidence but was also instrumental in influencing witnesses and there is "every likelihood" of her continuing to do so in case the relief is granted.

Kavitha had approached the court for interim bail, claiming her 16-year-old son has exams and needs her "moral and emotional support".

“From the material placed before this court, it appears that the applicant not only engaged in destruction of material evidence by formatting her phones before joining the investigation and after being served with notice requiring her to do so, along with her digital devices, which stands established by way of the forensic report in this regard, but also has been instrumental in influencing witnesses and there is every likelihood of her continuing to do so in case the relief prayed for is granted to her,” special judge Kaveri Baweja said.

The judge said Kavitha was stated to be highly educated, and by no standards can be said to a vulnerable woman who could be made a scapegoat for committing the alleged offences. She is undoubtedly a “well-educated” and “well-placed woman in the society”.

“The material placed before this court in the course of arguments prima facie points towards her active involvement in commission of the alleged offences as also towards her deliberate act of causing destruction of evidence, besides attempting to influence witnesses of the case,” the judge said.

In response to Kavitha’s submission that her husband was busy pursuing litigation on her behalf, the judge said it was not a “convincing reason” for grant of interim bail, and added that “it also appears that so called exam related anxiety of the child does not seem to be his (father’s) priority”.

The judge said there was no apparent reason as to why close relatives (older sibling, father and maternal aunts, i.e., mausis) cannot provide the requisite moral support to the child during his examinations.

The argument that they cannot be a substitute for the mother to address the exam related anxiety of the child is not a compelling reason to grant interim bail, she said.

The judge noted that Kavitha’s older son, aged about 19 years, was studying in Spain, and said “If one son of the applicant can study abroad without his parents being physically present with him, it does not appeal to reason as to why the younger son, who has the comfort of his home and presence of his above noted relatives, cannot take examinations without the physical presence of his mother.”

“Further, in this age of technology, the physical absence of older sibling/ father can certainly be compensated by their presence through digital devices. The sisters of the applicant, with whom the applicant seems to share a close bond keeping in view her prayer for meeting her sisters while in custody, also compels this court to consider that the maternal aunts can also provide the necessary support to the child,” the judge said.

Kavitha is allegedly a key member of the "South Group", which has been accused of paying the ruling AAP in Delhi kickbacks of Rs 100 crore in return for a big share of liquor licences in the national capital. She was sent to 14-day judicial custody last Tuesday.

Kavitha, 46, was arrested from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on 15 March.