Delhi Excise policy case: Court reserves order on cognisance in chargesheet against K Kavitha and others

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved the order on cognisance point in regards to the supplementary chargesheet filed against K Kavitha and four others in the Enforcement Directorate case.

The court will pass the order on May 29 on cognisance of the chargesheet. Meanwhile, the court has scheduled May 28 to review the supplementary chargesheet filed against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party.

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha in the Delhi excise policy case until June 3. This extension applies to the cases being investigated by both the CBI and the ED.

The ED arrested Kavitha at her Hyderabad residence on March 15, and she was placed in judicial custody. Later, the CBI arrested her in Tihar Jail.

The central agency claims that Kavitha was a key member of the 'South Group,' which allegedly paid the AAP Rs 100 crore in kickbacks in exchange for a significant share of liquor licenses under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.

In her bail plea, the BRS leader asserted that she has "nothing to do" with the excise policy and argued that there is a criminal conspiracy against her, "orchestrated by the ruling party at the Centre with the active involvement of the Enforcement Directorate."

Meanwhile, ED has requested an extension of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s judicial custody in the money laundering case related to the now-scrapped excise policy.

The ED submitted an application to the Rouse Avenue Court seeking 14 days of judicial custody for Kejriwal starting from June 2. Kejriwal is currently out on interim bail until June 1, as per the Supreme Court's order, which requires him to surrender on June 2, following the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections.