BRS leader Kavitha skips ED summons in Delhi Excise Policy case

Bharat Rashtra Samithi BRS MLC K Kavitha on Thursday skipped the summons by the Enforcement Directorate ED in connection with a money laundering case related to Delhi Excise Policy caseThe BRS leader had approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing claiming that as a woman she cannot be summoned to the ED office and the probe agencys representatives must visit her insteadOn Wednesday the Supreme Court had agreed to hear her plea challenging the ED summons on March 24 but refused to grant her interim reliefKavitha did not appear for the third round of ED questioning conveying to the probe agency that the matter is still pending before the apex courtAccording to the sources Kavitha has sent the necessary documents sought by the probe agency through her legal representativeThe ED had asked the BRS MLC to appear before it todayHeavry security was deployed outside the Delhi residence of the Kavitha ahead of her questioning by EDThe court has agreed to hear her petition on March 24 in the Delhi excise policy caseKavitha who is the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao approached the Supreme court saying as per norms a woman cannot be summoned for questioning before ED in office and her questioning should take place at her residenceThe advocate for Kavitha said that a woman is now being summoned by ED for questioning and that it is completely against the lawKavithas lawyer mentioned the plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and sought an urgent hearing on her petitions The court agreed to list it on March 24Also Read Centre should dismiss Maharashtra Govt Karnataka CM should resign SiddaramaiahThe court asked the lawyer what was the urgency in the matter and the lawyer replied that Kavitha has been asked to appear before ED tomorrowIn a petition filed through advocate Vandana Sehgal Kavitha has urged the top court to quash the ED summons dated March 7 and 11 stating that asking her to appear before the agency office instead of her residence is contrary to the settled tenets of criminal jurisprudence and thus wholly unsustainable in law being violative of the Proviso to Section 160 of the CrPCShe has also sought that all procedures carried out by ED including those in relation to the recording of statements be audio or videographed in the presence of her lawyer at a visible distance interalia by way of installation of appropriate CCTV camerasShe has also sought to set aside impounding order dated March 11 2023 and declare the seizure made thereunder null and voidIn the petition she said Despite the petitioner Kavitha not being named in the FIR certain members of the incumbent ruling political party at the Center made scandalous statements linking the Petitioner to the Delhi Excise Policy and the said FIRThe political conspiracy against the petitioner K Kavitha unfortunately did not end with judicial intervention by way of the Suit The Enforcement Directorate filed a remand application qua one of the accused on November 30 2022 before the concerned Court This remand application contained the personal contact details of the petitioner There was no rhyme or reason to include the personal contact details of the petitioner in a remand application which did not even concern the petitioner The act is all the more egregious considering the Petitioner is a lady BRS leader saidThe subsequent events are extremely shameful and in the belief of the Petitioner were orchestrated by the Enforcement Directorate at the behest of the members of the incumbent ruling party at the Center as part of a larger conspiracy against the Petitioner she saidK Kavitha further added that the said remand application containing the contact details of the Petitioner were leaked to the media and the publicThe remand application was shared extensively over social media Such an act is petty illegal and an unfortunate reflection upon the malicious conduct of the Enforcement Directorate in consonance with the political party in power at Center Kavitha saidKavitha said that ED has also denied her request seeking to be examined at her residence and the probe agency made a categorical statement that there is no provision under the PMLA for the recording of statements at any persons residenceThat immediately thereafter on March 8 2023 at 1103 pm the Petitioner sent an email asserting her rights to be examined at her residence However the Petitioner after reserving her rights intimated to the Respondent that she will appear before them on March 11 2023 Kavitha addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever