File photo of BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC K. Kavita left for Delhi on Sunday ahead of her questioning scheduled by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi liquor scam.
He was accompanied by his brother and minister KT Rama Rao, cousin and Rajya Sabha MP J. Santosh Kumar and some close friends were on a special chartered flight.
Ms Kavita made the visit amid doubts whether she would join questioning by the ED as her petition making serious allegations against the ED in the Supreme Court was listed for hearing on March 24. The lawyer for questioning by the agency on the last occasion on March 16, citing the Supreme Court case.
After his first questioning that lasted for nearly nine hours on March 11, the ED issued him a fresh notice and sought information on co-conspirators in the scam with the intention of appearing again on March 16. Meanwhile, Ms. Kavita filed a case in the Supreme Court saying that the central agency flouted constitutional guarantees and did not respect the rights of women and kept her in custody till 8.30 pm after sunset. He said that the ED threatened him with coercion and third degree methods to extract information. He also told the court that his personal phone was taken by the ED.
He reminded the court that the ED had given an undertaking to the court in the case of Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former Union minister P. Chidambaram, that it would not insist on her personal appearance. He asked why the rules were not followed in his case. In response to this, the ED filed a caveat on Saturday and appealed to the Supreme Court not to pass any order without hearing it.
Ms Kavita did not go to the ED office, although she was in Delhi on March 16. Incidentally, another suspect in the case and YSR Congress MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy also remained absent for ED questioning two days later citing his nephew’s hospitalization in Chennai.
Ms Kavitha sent her bank details along with her lawyer as required by the ED, amid intense suspicion that Mr Rama Rao, led by half a dozen Telangana ministers, was camping in the capital in her absence. The tension eased after the ED gave a fresh date but all eyes were on whether she would appear or not.
