India Supreme Court grants bail to political party leader in Delhi excise policy scam News
Subhashish Panigrahi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
India Supreme Court grants bail to political party leader in Delhi excise policy scam

The Indian Supreme Court granted bail to Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party, on Tuesday in the money laundering case related to the Delhi liquor policy scam after the high court rejected her bail application on July 1, 2024. 

The money laundering and corruption case was brought against Kavitha by agencies including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Board of Investigation (CBI) following the alleged excise policy scam, which has also put many famous political leaders of the state, including Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party companion, Manish Sisodia, on law enforcement’s radar.

While accepting Kavitha’s bail application, the Apex Court heavily criticized the ED and CBI’s apparent biases in their “selective approach in terming some accused as approvers.” According to LiveLaw, the court said it raises questions for the agencies as to why the accused is still in custody when the investigation in the case is complete, the chargesheet has been filed, and custodial interrogation is no longer required. The court stressed that bail is a rule and jail is an exception, particularly highlighting the likely lengthy trials in the present case where there are almost 493 witnesses to be examined and documentary evidence runs for almost 50 thousand pages.

The Delhi High Court, while rejecting Kavitha’s bail plea on July 1, cited section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which entitles women to special consideration in granting bail under money laundering offences. The High Court, while rejecting the 45(1) consideration to Kavitha remarked, that she is not a “vulnerable” woman and therefore is not entitled to any special consideration in the bail appeal. This was taken up by the Apex Court on Tuesday where the judges said that the lower court made the erroneous assumption that only “vulnerable” woman are covered under section 45(1).

Kavitha was arrested by the ED on March 15 where later the CBI took her into judicial custody. She has been under custody since then. Delhi’s chief minister who was arrested in the same case of alleged liquor policy scam was granted bail by the apex court. Moreover, Kejriwal’s party companion and one of the renowned opposition leaders, Manish Sisodia, was also granted bail by the apex court on August 10 after a 17-month-long period in custody.

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