SC refuses bail to BRS leader K Kavitha in ED case related to Delhi excise policy

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi asked Kavitha to approach the trial court, saying it is a practice which this court is following and cannot bypass the protocol

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant bail to BRS leader K Kavitha, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi asked Kavitha to approach the trial court, saying it is a practice which this court is following and cannot bypass the protocol.

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The bench said as far as Kavitha’s plea challenging the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is concerned, the court is issuing notice to the ED and seeking its response in six weeks.

“The petition challenging the provisions will come up with the pending matters,” the bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kavitha.

At the outset, Sibal said that people are being arrested on the basis of an approver’s statement.

The bench said it is not going into the merit of the case at the moment.

Kavitha has moved the top court challenging her arrest by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

A member of the Telangana Legislative Council and daughter of former state chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Kavitha was arrested on March 15 and remanded to the ED’s custody till March 23 in the case.