ED's Fresh Summons As BRS Leader K Kavitha Skips Questioning In Delhi Excise Policy Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a fresh summons to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha after she decided to skip the third round of questioning on Thursday in connection to a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam, citing that the matter was still pending before the Supreme Court. She has been asked to appear on March 20, officials said.

Sources in the agency told PTI that the six-page representation of the Telangana MLC, daughter of chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, has been rejected in view of the ongoing investigation which is at an important phase.

Kavitha had moved the Supreme Court against the ED, seeking protection from arrest and quashing of summons in the case on Wednesday. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha agreed to hear the plea of Kavitha, who is also a member of the legislative council, on March 24.

“Can a woman be called to the office of the Enforcement Directorate?” her lawyer said while seeking an urgent hearing of the plea.

On March 11, the BRS leader was questioned for hours by the ED in the money laundering case. In a statement, she claimed that she has been summoned by the ED to depose on March 9 "in light of" her proposed hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi in support of the women's reservation bill on March 11.

Earlier in the day, a poster war targeting BJP erupted in Hyderabad. Posters featuring BJP national general secretary BL Santosh with a "wanted" sign were spotted at two different places in the city. The posters also mentioned that the reward would be a “sanction of Modi’s promise of Rs 15,00,000", taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Earlier last week, posters referring to "raid detergents" were also seen across the city featuring Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who had corruption allegations levelled against them. 

(With inputs from PTI)