Ashish Ranjan
Liquor Policy Case: K Kavitha, leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, will be questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi liquor policy case this morning. Manish Sisodia was detained in connection with the same case.
- Thursday, Ms. Kavitha was scheduled to meet with the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The central agency consented to her request to postpone her questioning until today, citing her planned hunger strike in Delhi on Friday to demand the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
- Manish Sisodia, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, is already in ED custody. He was also detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged corruption in the drafting of Delhi’s new liquor policy, which was subsequently rescinded.
- An important emphasis of the investigation into the Delhi liquor policy case is an alleged network of middlemen, businesspeople, and politicians that the central agencies have dubbed “South Group.”
- The Enforcement Directorate alleged that Mr. Sisodia modified the liquor policy without consultation in order to benefit the “South Group” companies.
- Ms. Kavitha is one of the “South Group” members operating under the radar. Her father, K Chandrasekhar Rao, also known as KCR, is a prominent central opposition leader. This has resulted in accusations that the BJP-led central government is using central agencies to harass opposition leaders with fraudulent cases.
- “In India, there is no distinction between summonses issued by the Enforcement Directorate and those issued by (Narendra) Modi… Whenever there is an election, it is customary for the Enforcement Directorate to arrive prior to 5:00 p.m. What options do opponents have? Go to the court of the people or the Supreme Court “Friday, Ms. Kavitha told .
- Her brother, Telangana minister KT Rama Rao, arrived in Delhi the day prior to his sister’s interrogation by the ED.
- KCR told party leaders yesterday that they will fight to halt the harassment by the rival BJP using central agencies, according to the PTI. KCR stated, “Our struggle will persist until the BJP is ousted from power in the country.”
- Ms. Kavitha, 44, stated that the BJP is attempting to “intimidate my leader,” referring to her father KCR, who is seeking a third consecutive term in power in the state, where assembly elections are scheduled to take place in a few months.
- Yesterday, at the court hearing for Mr. Sisodia’s case in Delhi, his attorney criticised the ED for considering arrest as a privilege without following legal procedure. “It has become fashionable for agencies to view arrests as their inherent right. The time has arrived for the courts to severely punish this sense of entitlement “Mr Sisodia’s lawyer Dayan Krishna said.
