ED files fresh chargesheet in Delhi excise policy case; names BRS leader K Kavitha

ED files fresh chargesheet in Delhi excise policy case; names BRS leader K Kavitha

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a new chargesheet in the Delhi excise policy case, listing K Kavitha, the leader of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, among other alleged associates.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi who was granted temporary bail on Friday, is not included in the most recent chargesheet, which is the sixth the ED has released so far in the case. But according to officials, a supplementary chargesheet will be filed against him next week.

Kavitha was taken into custody on March 16. Five days later, on March 21, Kejriwal was detained on charges that he, Kavitha, and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had planned a plot to benefit a group of politicians and business people from the South Group in the Delhi excise policy 2021–2022.

ED claims that leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accepted bribes from the South Group totaling around ₹100 crore ($11.96 mn) and that Kejriwal utilised his position to spend approximately ₹45 crore ($5.38 mn) in illicit gains during the AAP’s 2022 Goa election campaign.

The chargesheet against Kavitha was submitted before a special court in Delhi under sections 45 and 44 (1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, or PMLA, within the 60-day period following her detention. On May 13, the court will hear arguments on the chargesheet’s cognisance.

In the excise policy investigation, the ED has so far detained 18 suspects, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and K Kavitha. It has also filed seven chargesheets against 34 people and organisations and produced thousands of documents for the court to review.