BRS leader and KCR daughter Kavitha arrested in liquor scam case

Enforcement Directorate arrests BRS leader K Kavitha in Hyderabad, moves her to Delhi for questioning over money laundering tied to scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and Bhartiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS) MLC K Kavitha could today move the Supreme Court through her lawyers, hoping to seek a urgent hearing so as to challenge her arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. Kavitha was arrested by ED on Friday from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad over her alleged role in the Delhi excise policy scam, and brought to Delhi.

She is likely to be produced before court on Saturday and the Enforcement Directorate could seek her custody. The arrest comes almost two months after summons were issued against her by the ED. Kavitha has aleady been questioned in the case thrice last year.

Why The Arrest

ED alleges that Kavitha has links to a lobby of liquor traders, referred to as the 'South Group' and is accused of colluding with leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi to shape an excise policy that favoured a few companies. ED's charges include alleged bribe to AAP-run Delhi Government in formulating an excise policy that may have helped companies win auction, cartelisation and benami investments.

Politically Motivated, alleges BRS

BRS president K T Rama Rao - also Kavitha's brother - has accused ED of unlawfully moving her to Delhi in defiance of the orders of Supreme Court that had clearly restrained any arrest till her next plea for hearing. The party claims the arrest is politically motivated.The Delhi Excise Case

Delhi's AAP government in 2021 had revised its liquor excise policy which led to the discontinuation of government-owned liquor outlets, and licenses were granted to more than 800 private companies. This policy shift soon faced allegations of corruption and favoritism by the opposition in the licensing process.