K Kavitha seeks bail in CBI case; says her arrest before Lok Sabha elections not a coincidence

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi Excise Policy case, has approached the trial court for bail..Special Judge (PC Act) Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court asked the CBI to respond to Kavitha's application by April 20.The Court will hear the matter on April 22. Kavitha has prayed for interim bail during the pendency of her bail plea. .Kavitha was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from Hyderabad on March 15 over her alleged involvement in a money laundering case. She was also arrested by the CBI on April 11. On Monday, she was remanded to judicial custody till April 23 after being questioned by the CBI.The case against Kavitha and others originated in 2022, when a First Information Report (FIR) was registered by the CBI alleging that the Delhi Excise Policy of 2021-22 was manipulated to facilitate monopolisation and cartelisation of wholesale and retail liquor trade in Delhi.The case was registered under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Particularly, it was alleged that certain persons from South India were benefited in the process and some amount of their profits was given to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).At present, she is in judicial custody in both the cases. Her bail plea in ED case is pending before Judge Baweja.In her application seeking regular bail in the CBI case, Kavitha among other grounds has alleged that she was arrested to deprive and her party the level playing field in the General Elections."The arrest of the Applicant by the Enforcement Directorate on 15.03.2024 just a day before declaration of election schedule and by CBI on 11.04.2024 i.e., less than 10 days before the commencement of nomination exercise in State of Telangana is not a mere coincidence. The arrest of the Petitioner is nothing, but a method devised by the ruling party at Center to deprive level playing field to her and her party in the upcoming elections," the application states.It further states that she was the star campaigner for the BRS and has been given election duty by her party.Particularly with regard to her recent arrest by the CBI while she was already in judicial custody in the ED case, Kavitha argued that the evidence being cited against her was not collected recently, but was "illegally procured" by the CBI in connivance with the ED long ago.It was done with the sole aim to restrain her from campaigning for the elections, the application states."The political masterminds are well aware that if the Petitioner can be connected to the alleged scam, it will bring her, and by logical implication, her father, the erstwhile Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana, into disrepute. The political mileage gained from such actions can be used in the general elections scheduled for 2024. This is the sole and singular motive of the purported investigation. This is political propaganda at its shameful lowest, even by the not so high standards in Indian politics.".Further, Kavitha has said that she had nothing to do with the Delhi Excise Policy and was not even remotely connected to it."The ruling party in the Centre is using investigative agencies to publicly connect the Petitioner to the Delhi Excise Policy so that further coercive actions can be taken against her," the application states.She has also argued that that CBI was solely relying upon the statements of approvers or their "relatives/associates/employees" as part of a larger conspiracy to malign her image and that of her father and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.Kavitha also cited her medical condition to pray for bail and said that after arrest by ED, she has been diagnosed with hypertension.