ED summons BRS leader K Kavitha for questioning in Delhi excise policy case on Tuesday
New Delhi, Jan 15: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned BRS leader K Kavitha for a fresh round of questioning in connection with its probe into the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on Monday.
The 45-year-old daughter of former Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao has been asked to depose before the agency in Delhi on Tuesday, they said.
Sources, however, said that she may not depose before the agency and has communicated her decision to the investigating officer through an email.
"There is a Supreme Court order that has said that the ED cannot summon K Kavitha in this case," her lawyer Nitesh Rana told PTI.
ED sources said that the BRS leader had obtained a temporary relief from the Supreme Court last year which is not valid now.
She was questioned thrice in this case last year and the central agency recorded her statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC has asserted in the past that she had done nothing wrong and alleged that the BJP-led Centre was "using" the ED as the saffron party could not gain a "backdoor entry" into Telangana.
The ED has issued a fourth summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the case and has been asked to appear before it on January 18.
The last time Kavitha deposed before the ED, she is understood to have been confronted with the statements made by Hyderabad-based businessman and an accused in the case Arun Ramchandran Pillai who allegedly shares close ties with her, apart from those of few others involved in the case.
Pillai, the ED had said, "represented the South Group", an alleged liquor cartel linked to Kavitha and others, that paid kickbacks amounting to about Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to gain a larger share of the market in the national capital under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2020-21.
The "South Group", according to the ED, comprises Sarath Reddy (ex-promoter of Aurobindo Pharma), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (YSR Congress MP from Ongole Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh), his son Raghav Magunta, Kavitha and others.
The ED also alleged in Pillai's remand papers that he "represented the benami investments" of Kavitha in the case.
Kavitha was questioned by the CBI in this case. The ED case of money laundering was filed taking cognisance of the CBI FIR.
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Mohsin's fifer helps LSG restrict KKR to 155/7 despite Rinku's 83
Lucknow (PTI): Lucknow Super Giants pacer Mohsin Khan added another sordid chapter to Kolkata Knight Riders' batting woes, taking five wickets to restrict the three-time champions to a modest 155 for seven in their IPL match here on Sunday.
Mohsin’s 5 for 23, a personal best for the left-arm pacer in this format, tore apart an already struggling KKR batting unit, as he snaffled the cream wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Tim Seifert, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell and Anukul Roy.
Rinku Singh (83 not out, 51 balls) made a well-paced fifty and punished Mohammed Shami in the 19th over for 6, 4, 4 and the smoked four sixes in a row against spinner Digvesh Rathi as KKR made 43 runs in the last two overs to go past the 150-run mark.
But his fifty remained a lone act, as Mohsin firmly stood in the limelight.
His bowling ethos were rooted in simple tactics — bang the ball into the black soil pitch to gain bounce or use cutters at various pace to keep the batters guessing.
Mohsin, who started the night with a wicket maiden, showed his variety across two dismissals.
He followed Rahane with a fuller ball as the batter tried to go over the covers, but the ball’s trajectory forced the KKR skipper to just slice the ball up for a simple catch for Aiden Markram.
The 27-year-old stayed calm when Green, who looked comfortable out there while smashing George Linde for two successive sixes, slammed him for a huge maximum.
Two balls later, Mohsin dug one short, challenging Green (34) to go for the pull and the Australian all-rounder took the bait.
The into-the-body angle worked again as Green could only sky the ball to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Green’s ouster also ended a fifth wicket alliance worth 42 with Rinku Singh.
Bizarre dismissal of Raghuvanshi
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If the existing turmoil was not enough, KKR had to bear the dejection of seeing Angkrish Raghuvanshi getting dismissed obstructing the field.
On the final ball of the fifth over from Prince Yadav, Raghuvanshi nudged one towards mid-on and set off for a single, only to be rejected by Green.
Raghuvanshi put in a dive to save himself but he came in the line of the throw from Shami.
Subsequently, third umpire Rohit Pandit accepted LSG’s appeal and decided that the batter’s turning radius was more than required, eventually resulting in the batter’s dismissal in a rare manner.
