Delhi liquor scam: Kavitha seeks complaint copy before date with CBI

HYDERABAD: A day after receiving a notice from the Central Bureau of Investigation asking her to appear as a witness in the Delhi excise policy scam probe under Section 160 of the CrPC, TRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha wrote to the CBI asking for copies of the complaint by the MHA Director Praveen Kumar that the agency refers to in its notice.

In her letter on Saturday, the pink party leader stated that the requested examination by CBI officials could be fixed after she acquaints herself with the contents of the complaint. This is in contrast to her earlier stand on Friday when Kavitha stated that she would meet the CBI officials at her residence on December 6 as per their request.  

Earlier, on Saturday morning, Kavitha called on her father Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at his official residence, Pragathi Bhavan. Sources say that the legal aspects of the CBI notice were examined in detail by Kavitha and KCR at the time resulting in the letter being released in the evening.

The letter by Kavitha to Alok Kumar Shahi, Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBI, ACB, New Delhi states: “I have gone through the contents of the notice. I would request you to kindly provide me copies of the complaint vide OM No.14035/06/2022-Delhi-1 dated 22/07/22 received from Sri Praveen Kumar Roy, MHA of India, and RC 53(A)/2022 of CBI/ACB/Delhi referred to in your notice. The requested documents may be provided at the earliest to enable me to acquaint myself and answer appropriately within a reasonable period of time. Date of our meeting can be fixed at Hyderabad after the receipt of the documents.”

Initially, on Friday night after receiving the notice asking her to appear before it, Kavitha released a statement stating that she would like to meet the CBI officials at Hyderabad on December 6. “I’ve been issued a CBI notice under Section 160 of CrPC, seeking my clarification. I have informed the authorities, that I can meet them at my residence in Hyderabad on Dec 6 as per their request,” she said.

The CBI’s notice on Friday stated that the “subject cited case has been registered” on the basis of a written complaint by Praveen Kumar, Director, MHA, Government of India under section 12-B r/w Section 7 of the PC Act and Section 477-A of the IPC against Manish Sisodia and 14 others regarding the allegations pertaining to the Delhi government’s excise policy. It may be noted that Kavitha has been named by the ED in a remand report filed with regard to businessman Amit Arora in the liquor scam. This was the first time Kavitha’s name was mentioned on record by the ED.