Kavitha judicial custody extended till April 23

Hyderabad: In a setback to Kavitha and her party BRS ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of BRS MLC K Kavitha till April 23.

Kavitha was produced in the court on Tuesday by the Enforcement Directorate as the judicial custody ended on Tuesday. ED sought extension of custody by another 14 days. The ED said that Kavitha had tampered with the evidence and influenced the witness and thus they were seeking further judicial custody. While Kavitha's counsel Nitesh Rana opposed saying that there were no new grounds for ED and asked if she could speak for herself in the court. The court did not agree and sent her to judicial custody till April 23.

As she was unable to speak in the court, Kavitha, while coming out of the court, gave the four-page letter to the media claiming that she had nothing to do with the alleged scam. She said that this entire case was based on statements and that she is not involved in any financial benefit from this Delhi Excise policy as alleged by the ED and CBI. Kavitha said the case was two-and-a-half years old and the ED could not prove anything. She said it was aimed to damage her political image.

She also said more than ED and CBI, the media trial was going on. “The investigating agencies are infringing my privacy as my mobile numbers were shared on television channels,” she said.

She reiterated that she had always cooperated with the probe agencies though they had intruded into her privacy. They are leveling false charges that she had damaged the cell phones, she added.

Meanwhile, the CBI questioned Kavitha in Tihar Jail. The agency was given permission by the special court to question her on the WhatsApp chats recovered from co-accused Buchi Babu’s phone and documents related to a land deal after which Rs 100 crore was allegedly paid to the Aam Aadmi Party in kickbacks to swing excise policy in favour of a liquor lobby.