Court’s ‘sufficient evidence’ remarks against Kavitha worries Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Special Court's finding that the CBI's supplementary charge sheet has sufficient evidence to prosecute BRS leader K Kavitha in the Delhi liquor scam is not good news for Arvind Kejriwal.

After arresting Kejriwal and Kavitha, the CBI is investigating both of them under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The premier investigative agency arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the same case on June 26 from Tihar Jail, where he is still lodged in judicial custody in a connected money laundering case filed by the ED.

In its supplementary charge sheet, CBI alleged that Kavitha had not only collected upfront payment in the Delhi excise policy scam but also played a role in the transfer of the "ill-gotten money" to Goa in 2021-22 to be used in the election campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party.

While taking cognisance of the charge sheet on Monday, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja observed that there was sufficient evidence to proceed against her in the case.

This development is set to disappoint Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party supporters asking for the money trail and evidence in the case.

Kejriwal has been trying to project himself as innocent by saying that there is no evidence in this case and that not even a single penny of the scam has been recovered from him.

The court's 'sufficient evidence' remark has shattered the defence of Kejriwal and his supporters.

If the Supreme Court does not normalise corruption in its effort to go soft on Kejriwal, people see a bleak future for the Delhi CM and the Aam Aadmi Party.

What does the fresh charge sheet say?

Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has been accused of conspiring with other members of a liquor cartel called "South Group" and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders as part of which kickbacks of Rs 100 crore were paid to the Delhi's ruling party in return for liquor licences.

A significant portion of that money was allegedly spent by AAP for the Goa assembly election campaign in 2022.

"During the investigation, the role of the accused K Kavitha has surfaced not only in the collection of upfront money but also in the transfer of ill-gotten money to Goa through Hawala channels," the CBI charge sheet, accessed by the PTI, said.

The central agency alleged that her associates Abhishek Boinpally and PA Ashok Kaushik were involved in the transfer of money to Goa through hawala channels.

The agency has traced the alleged money trail during the excise scam showing the benefits accrued by South Group led by Kavitha.

The central probe agency has alleged that Arvind Kumar Singh of India Ahead News, a channel owned by accused Mootha Gautam and Boinpally, acted as a conduit in the transfer of Rs 7.10 crore.

Using confession statements of hawala operator Devang Solanki, call records retrieved from his phone, Singh's bank account statement, whats App chats, the CBI could "prove" the transfer of Rs 7.10 crore through hawala channels to Chanpreet Singh, an Aam Aadmi Party activist in Goa, the agency has said.

"The investigation has revealed that the accused Chanpreet Singh Rayat was the receiver of the ill-gotten money through hawala channels at Goa and has also managed the distribution and end use of the ill-gotten money at Goa during the Assembly Election for Aam Admi Party," the CBI alleged.

The central probe agency has also relied on the statement of Dinesh Arora, who had turned approver, that Boinpally had informed him that Rs 90-100 crore was "paid" to Aam Aadmi Party's media in-charge Vijay Nair.

Arora had also told the agency that Boinpally had transferred Rs 30 crore through him using the hawala route which was received by Rajesh Joshi of Chariot Media Productions who was handling the outdoor campaign work for the party during the 2021-22 for Goa Assembly polls.

The agency had also used GPS dumps to indicate meetings between Nair, Kavitha and members of South Group at various five-star hotels in Delhi between March 14-17, 2021.

It is alleged that Kavitha and her associates were instrumental in tweaking the excise policy formulated by the Delhi Government in their favour by paying Rs 90-100 crore.

The agency has alleged that former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia had raised the wholesaler margin from 5 per cent in the draft Group of Ministers report - retrieved from his computer - to 12 per cent in the one he gave his secretary to type on March 18, 2021, without any justification.

"Another favourable change made in the draft GOM report, which can be attributed to the co-accused associates of K Kavitha was raising the turnover eligibility from Rs 100 crore by which most of the private distributors would have not qualified for the wholesale license," the CBI has alleged.

Kavitha was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case on March 15 from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad. On April 11, the CBI arrested her from Tihar jail in the corruption case linked to the alleged scam.

Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court had denied her bail in both the money laundering and corruption cases.