ED Summons To BRS MLC: SC grants no relief to Kavitha in liquorgate

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, in its order on Monday, did not grant any interim relief to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha in relation to the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam case.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ajay Rastogi and also comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi, did not pass any interim order of relief to Kavitha, and posted the case for further hearing after 3 weeks.

Kavitha, who is a Member of the Legislative Council in Telangana, had moved the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued against her by the ED in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case.

Kavitha had meanwhile, before Monday's hearing, had already appeared before the ED thrice in the Delhi Excise Policy scam case at the ED office.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kavitha, said that issues concerning place of interrogation, etc, need to be addressed.

"Whether she needs to be interrogated at home or in Delhi, court is seized of and has issued notice in similar petitions of Nalini Chidambaram and Abhishek Banerjee," Sibal said.

While not inclined to pass any order and refusing to stay the ED summons against her, the Supreme Court, however, agreed to examine the issue of the legal point as to if a woman can be summoned to the ED office under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and or Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) of Indian laws.

The Top Court, while refusing to pass any interim relief to Kavitha, however, engaged her plea along with the earlier one of Nalini Chidambaram pending before it.