No interim relief from SC to KCR's daughter Kavitha, asked to approach trial court for bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday denied any interim relief to BRS leader K. Kavitha, who moved a plea challenging her arrest by the ED in the Delhi excise policy case.

Observing that statutory procedure cannot be bypassed for a political person or someone who could directly afford to petition the apex court, a special bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kavitha, to approach the trial court for the grant of bail.

However, the special Bench, also comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and Bela M. Trivedi, issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on her plea so far it impugned the vires of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and directed tagging of her petition with other pending pleas.

The top court on Tuesday allowed the withdrawal of the plea filed by Kavitha against the ED summons since the said petition became infructuous on her arrest by the federal investigating agency on March 15.

In interim relief for Kavitha, the Supreme Court in September last year had asked the ED not to insist on her appearance in the ongoing probe against the AAP-led Delhi government's now scrapped liquor policy till the next date of listing. This interim protection from ED action was extended till March 13.

Kavitha, the daughter of BRS supremo and former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, was arrested from Hyderabad on March 15 and brought to Delhi. A court had sent her to ED custody.