SC to hear Kavitha’s plea challenging ED summons on March 24

Enforcement Directorate has asked Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha to appear again before it on March 16.

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on March 24 a plea by BRS MLC K Kavitha, seeking protection from arrest and challenging the summons by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case arising out of the Delhi excise policy case. However, it did not grant any interim relief to Kavitha.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha took note of the submissions by Kavitha who approached the Apex Court. The BRS legislator who deposed before the ED to record her statement on March 11, was summoned again on Thursday for questioning.

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In her petition, Kavitha argued that as per norms, a woman cannot be summoned for questioning before ED in office and her questioning should take place at her residence. Her advocate Vandana Sehgal said a woman was now being summoned by ED for questioning which is “completely against the law”.

“Can a woman be called to the office of the Enforcement Directorate?” her lawyer said, while seeking an urgent hearing of the plea.
During the nine hours questioning at the ED office last week, Kavitha was reportedly confronted with statements made by several persons accused in the case. Her statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In the petition filed through Sehgal, Kavitha also sought that all procedures carried out by ED, including those in relation to the recording of statements be audio or videographed in the presence of her lawyer at a visible distance inter-alia by way of installation of appropriate CCTV cameras. She has also sought to set aside the impounding order dated March 11, 2023 and declare the seizure made thereunder null and void.

Terming the ED case as a political conspiracy, she said that despite her not being named in the FIR, certain members of the incumbent ruling political party at the Centre made scandalous statements linking her to the Delhi Excise Policy and the said FIR. She argued that the ED filed a remand application for one of the accused on November 30, 2022, before the court, which contained her personal contact details for no reason as the remand application did not even concern the petitioner. “The act is all the more egregious considering the Petitioner is a lady,” the BRS leader said in her petition.

“The subsequent events are extremely shameful and in the belief of the Petitioner, were orchestrated by the Enforcement Directorate at the behest of the members of the incumbent ruling party at the Centre, as part of a larger conspiracy against the Petitioner,” she said.

Kavitha further added that the remand application containing her contact details were leaked to the media and the public. “The remand application was shared extensively over social media. Such an act is petty, illegal, and an unfortunate reflection upon the malicious conduct of the Enforcement Directorate in consonance with the political party in power at Centre,” she said.