Excise scam: BRS leader K Kavitha seeks bail in corruption case

New Delhi: BRS leader K Kavitha on Monday moved a Delhi court seeking bail in a corruption case lodged by the CBI in connection with the alleged excise scam.

The application is likely to be taken up for hearing later in the day by special judge for the CBI and ED, Kaveri Baweja, who earlier in the day sent Kavitha to judicial custody till April 23.

The daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao was arrested from the Tihar Jail, where she has been lodged after her arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The CBI produced the accused before court on expiry of her three-day police custody granted earlier by the judge and sought her judicial custody.

The probe agency told the court that she was not required for further custodial interrogation.

The CBI told the court that Kavitha has not given satisfactory replies to the questions raised to her regarding the case.

"She also did not divulge true facts and gave evasive replies to most of the questions asked to her. Her replies were contrary to oral and documentary evidences gathered by the CBI during the investigation. She was not disclosing the facts truthfully, despite being confronted with the evidence and also concealing the facts, which are exclusively in her knowledge," the CBI told the court.

"Her further custodial interrogation is not required at this stage. As already submitted...she is deliberately and intentionally evading the just and relevant questions related to the case. She, being a prominent politician, is a very influential person, as such, there are credible reasons to believe that she may influence the witnesses and the potential witnesses, who are yet to be examined, tamper with the evidence to be further collected and may hamper the ongoing investigation," the CBI told the court.

It added that further investigation is going on and the same is at a very crucial stage, adding some crucial witnesses are yet to be examined and documents and digital evidence are yet to be collected.

"It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this court may kindly be pleased to remand Kavitha for 14 days in judicial custody in the interest of the investigation and justice," the CBI told the court.

The CBI submission was opposed by advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for Kavitha, saying the probe agency's allegations were not the grounds to send her to judicial custody.

CBI officials had recently questioned Kavitha inside prison after obtaining permission from a special court.

The ED had arrested Kavitha (46) from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15.