SC denies bail to Kavitha

New Delhi: In a setback to BRS leader K Kavitha, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant her bail in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The development came a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the same case.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi asked Kavitha to approach the trial court, saying it is a practice which this court is following and cannot bypass the protocol. "Issue notice. Counter affidavit shall be filed in six weeks. Rejoinder, if any, in six weeks. It will be open to the petitioner to move the trial court or invoke any other remedy for grant of bail," the bench said, adding all pleas and contentions available to the petitioner are left open. It clarified that the court has not made any comments on merits of the case.

The bench said as far as Kavitha's plea challenging the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is concerned, the court is issuing notice to the ED and seeking its response. "The petition challenging the provisions (of PMLA) will come up with the pending matters," the bench told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kavitha.