CBI summons BRS leader K Kavitha next week in Delhi excise policy case

The CBI has summoned former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and BRS legislator K Kavitha in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case next week, officials said Wednesday.
They said Kavitha has been asked to appear before the investigation team at the CBI headquarters in Delhi on Monday.

The agency had earlier recorded her statement in December 2022 at her residence in Hyderabad, they said. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that one of the accused in the case Vijay Nair received kickbacks to the tune of at least Rs 100 crore from a group called South Group (controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy) on behalf of leaders of the AAP.

The CBI which has so far filed three charge sheets against a number of accused including former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has alleged that kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crore were paid in advance to some politicians of the ruling AAP in Delhi and other public servants by some persons in the liquor business from South India through co-accused Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and Dinesh Arora.

The agency has alleged that these kickbacks are found to have been returned to them subsequently out of the profit margins of wholesalers holding L-1 licences through different modes, like issuance of excess credit notes, bank transfers, and outstanding amounts left in accounts of the companies controlled, by some conspirators from the "South lobby".

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The CBI has alleged a cartel was formed among three components of the policy -- liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers -- by violating provisions and against the spirit of the policy. All the conspirators allegedly played active roles in achieving the illegal objectives of this criminal conspiracy. It resulted in huge losses to the exchequer and undue pecuniary benefits to the public servants and other accused involved in the conspiracy, the CBI has alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)