Delhi liquor 'scam': Kavitha threatened S C Reddy to pay money to AAP, CBI tells court
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has told a special court here that Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha had allegedly "threatened" Aurobindo Pharma promoter Sharath Chandra Reddy to pay an amount of Rs 25 crore to the AAP for the five retail zones allotted to his firm under the Delhi government's excise policy.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Kavitha had told Reddy that in case he does not pay the amount to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital, his business will be harmed in Telangana and Delhi.
Reddy, who was an accused in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged liquor scam in Delhi, had turned an approver in the case that is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The CBI is yet to file a chargesheet against him.
Seeking the BRS leader's custodial interrogation, the CBI told Special Judge Kaveri Baweja that it was at the "insistence and assurance" of Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, that Reddy got involved in the liquor business in Delhi.
Kavitha had allegedly assured Reddy that she had contacts in the Delhi government and that she would help him in the liquor business in the national capital under the now-scrapped excise policy.
"Kavitha further told Sharath Chandra Reddy that the payments of upfront money of Rs 25 crore for wholesale business and Rs 5 crore for each retail zone were to be made to the Aam Aadmi Party for getting liquor business and the same was to be paid to her associates, Arun R Pillai and Abhishek Boinpally, who would in turn coordinate with Vijay Nair, who was a representative of (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal," the CBI told the court on Friday.
The court has sent Kavitha to the CBI's custody till April 15.
According to the agency, in March and May 2021, when the excise policy was being formulated, Pillai, Boinpally and Butchibabu Gorantla stayed at the Hotel Oberoi in Delhi to swing the policy in their favour through Nair by inserting provisions.
After receiving the assurance of support from Kavitha, Aurobindo Reality and Infrastructure Private Limited paid Rs 80 lakh to her NGO, Telangana Jagruthi, under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in March 2021, the CBI has alleged.
"The investigation has further revealed that in June-July 2021, K Kavitha had compelled Sharath Chandra Reddy to enter into a sale agreement with her for an agricultural land situated at Mahboob Nagar, Telangana, although he was not keen to purchase the said agricultural land and also not aware of the value of the said land," it has said.
Kavitha "insisted" that Reddy pay Rs 14 crore against the land and "forced" him to enter into the sale agreement through Mahira Ventures Private Limited, one of the Aurobindo Group companies, in July 2021, the CBI has told the court, citing Reddy's statement and its investigation so far.
It said the total payment of Rs 14 crore was made to Kavitha through bank transactions -- Rs 7 crore in July 2021 and another Rs 7 crore in mid-November 2021.
The agency has alleged that in November and December of 2021, Kavitha asked Reddy to pay Rs 25 crore (Rs 5 crore per zone for the five retail zones allotted to him).
The BRS leader had claimed that she herself had paid Rs 100 crore as upfront money on Reddy's behalf to the AAP through Nair for getting favourable provisions in the excise policy.
"However, when Sarath Chandra Reddy showed his reluctance to pay the demanded money, K Kavitha threatened Sarath Chandra Reddy to harm his business in Telangana and Delhi under the excise policy," the agency has alleged, citing Reddy's statement.
The AAP alleged on March 24 that Reddy's company had given Rs 59.5 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through electoral bonds.
"The companies owned by Sarath Reddy bought electoral bonds and donated money to the BJP. Now, this money trail has been exposed in front of the country. Reddy purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 4.5 crore while the excise policy was being formulated and after his arrest, he purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 55 crore and the money went to the BJP. So the money trail that has been sought for the past two years is here," Delhi minister Atishi had alleged.
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AI, IndiGo, SpiceJet seek ATF price relief; say airline industry on verge of 'stopping operations'
Mumbai (PTI): Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet have told the government that the country's airline industry is under extreme stress and on the verge of "stopping operations", as they sought revision in ATF pricing and financial support.
The West Asia turmoil has pushed up oil prices, and airspace restrictions have increased airlines' operating costs, especially on long-haul routes. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for around 40 per cent of a carrier's operational expenses.
Against this backdrop, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has written to the civil aviation ministry, seeking steps to extend the same fuel pricing mechanism uniformly across both domestic and international operations as was done in the past with the establishment of the crack band.
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With an unprecedented rise in jet fuel prices and exorbitant crack/differential between crude and ATF, the federation said the operation of airlines is being challenged in totality.
"... any ad hoc pricing (domestic vs international) and/or irrational increase in the price of ATF will result in unsurmountable losses for airlines and will lead to grounding of aircraft, resulting in cancellation of flights," the federation, which represents Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, said.
"In order to survive, sustain and continue operation, we request your urgent intervention for immediate and meaningful financial support to tide over the current situation," it said in a letter on April 26.
Also, the airlines have sought temporary deferment of excise duty on ATF, which is at 11 per cent.
"With the abnormal increase in ATF prices from the pre-crisis period, adding rupee depreciation to the increased prices, the 11 per cent excise duty also increases manifold for the airlines and adds to the ATF price as a big impact on airlines," they said.
Last month, the government limited the hike in ATF price to Rs 15 per litre for domestic operations, but for international operations, the price rose by Rs 73 per litre.
The airlines said the situation has practically made international operations, along with domestic operations, completely unviable and resulted in significant losses for the aviation sector in April.
Seeking urgent intervention on the current ATF ad hoc pricing, FIA said the current situation is creating a severe imbalance in domestic and international operations and rendering airline networks unviable and unsustainable.
"The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and is on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations."
The federation has pitched for a transparent pricing framework under the crack band mechanism (USD 12–22/BBL) that was implemented in October 2022, saying there was a fair and reasonable margin for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
According to FIA, the country's largest aviation hub Delhi has the second-highest value-added tax (VAT) of 25 per cent on jet fuel, while the highest rate is 29 per cent levied in Tamil Nadu.
"The other major aviation cities, viz. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata range between 16 per cent and 20 per cent. These 6 cities cover more than 50 per cent of airlines' operations within India," the federation said.
