SC to hear Kavitha plea on March 24; ED to quiz her tomorrow in Delhi

BRS MLC Kavitha's advocates told the Supreme Court that the ED has already interrogated her once and that calling a woman to the ED headquarters in the name of questioning is against the law of the land. However, the court denied interim relief as a result of which KCR's daughter would have to appear for ED questioning in Delhi on Thursday in Delhi liquor policy case.

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to give interim relief to BRS MLC K Kavitha's plea against the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi liquor policy case. However, the apex court agreed to list the hearing of Kavitha's plea on March 24. As a result, Kavitha would now have to appear for ED questioning at its Delhi headquarters on Thursday.

For the second time within a week, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao is going to be quizzed by the ED officials in Delhi. The entire KCR family has rallied together to stand by Kavitha in this hour of crisis. The KCR's daughter held a major showdown by holding a day-long hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on March 10, a day ahead of the previous ED questioning.

Today, Kavitha's advocates sought the Supreme Court to hear her plea for relief from the ED summons. Can a woman be called to the office of the Enforcement Directorate? they asked. Mentioning that a woman is now being summoned by ED for questioning, they said that it is completely against the law of the land. Her advocates pointed out that Kavitha has already appeared before the ED and now is being called again.

After hearing their plea, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud listed the matter for hearing on March 24, 2023. The ED has already arrested Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramachandran Pillai whom the agency has accused of being a benami of Kavitha. The ED crackdown against Kavitha has raised political temperatures amid vows taken by BRS supremo and Telangana CM KCR to rally the country's opposition together to throw out the BJP government at the Centre in the 2024 elections.

On March 11, Kavitha was questioned by ED for over nine hours when the BRS leader was stated to have been quizzed over her links with the liquor cartel and the transactions relating to the Delhi liquor scam. The ED officials had also found that the accused leader had swapped many mobile phones at the time of the alleged fraud, sources said.