Delhi Excise Policy Case: Delhi Court Issues Notice To CBI Following K Kavitha’s Bail Plea

The Rouse Avenue Court on Monday, issued a notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding a bail plea from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha. She has requested default bail in the Delhi Excise policy case. Special judge Kaveri Baweja has summoned the CBI and scheduled the next hearing for July 12.

Advocate Nitesh Rana and Mohit P Rao represented K Kavitha, stating that on July 6, the court noted the defectiveness of the charge sheet during the consideration for cognizance. They argued that Kavitha should be granted default bail due to the Central Bureau of Investigation’s failure to file a complete charge sheet within the mandatory 60-day period. They also requested interim bail for Kavitha during the proceedings of her bail application.

Her previous regular bail applications were rejected by both the trial court and the High Court.

Kavitha is currently in judicial custody in connection with both the CBI and money laundering cases. She was initially arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on March 15, followed by another arrest by the CBI on April 11.

In the Delhi Excise Policy money laundering case, the ED has also filed a charge sheet against her. The CBI launched an inquiry based on findings from a report by the Delhi Chief Secretary in July, which indicated apparent violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR) 1993, Delhi Excise Act 2009, and Delhi Excise Rules 2010, officials stated.

According to allegations by the ED and the CBI, irregularities occurred during the modification of the excise policy, involving undue favors to license holders, waiver or reduction of license fees, and unauthorized extension of the L-1 license without proper approval. The beneficiaries allegedly diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and falsified their financial records to avoid detection, stated the investigative agencies.

The Excise Department purportedly decided to refund approximately Rs 30 crore as earnest money deposit to a successful bidder against established regulations. Additionally, despite the absence of a legal provision, a waiver on tendered license fees was permitted from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, citing COVID-19 reasons, resulting in an alleged loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer.