BRS leader K Kavitha being produced at the Rouse Avenue court today. (Image: PTI)
Kavitha said that she has “cooperated with the investigation” to the best of her knowledge and has also provided “all bank account details”
A Delhi Court extended Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha’s judicial custody till April 23 in the excise policy linked-money laundering case on Tuesday.
In a letter to the Rouse Avenue Court, Kavitha called herself a “victim” and said the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have conducting a “media trial for 2.5 years”.
She has claimed that she no involvement or any financial benefits from the excise policy. “My personal and political reputation has been targeted. My mobile phone is displayed on all television channels directly invading my privacy,” the BRS leader said in her letter to court.
Kavitha said that she has “cooperated with the investigation” to the best of her knowledge and has also provided “all bank account details”.
“I will hand over all the mobile phones which the agency claim that I have destroyed,” the BRS leader said. She claimed that the federal agency’s raid imposed “physical and mental torture” on her, adding that they also “threatened” her.
Taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kavitha said, “Madam Justice, today 95 per cent cases of ED/CBI are on opposition party leaders and when the accused joins BJP, the investigation abruptly stops.”
The BRS leader further told the court that BJP leaders — on the floor of the parliament — openly threatened opposition saying ‘Chup hojao, warna ED bhejunga‘ (Keep quiet or I’ll send the ED).
Kavitha also raised a question at those approvers who kept changing their statements. “Why didn’t the ED arrest me when my party was in power?” she asked in her letter to the court.
While leaving from the court, Kavitha said that the case was “based on statements and it won’t stand the test of time”.
“This is a case completely based on the statement. It is a political case. This is a case of targeting the opposition parties. CBI has already recorded my statement in jail,” she told reporters.
The court on Monday had denied interim bail to Kavitha, who had moved a petition for the same on the grounds of her son’s exams. She had claimed that he needs his mother’s “moral and emotional support”.
Kavitha was arrested by the central probe agency on March 15. She has been accused of being a key member of the “South Group”, which allegedly paid the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi kickbacks of Rs 100 crore in return for a big share of liquor licenses in the national capital.
