Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Thursday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) notice to her in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam was politically motivated.
“We strongly believe it is politically motivated. We will speak to the legal team and see what needs to be done. We are not anyone’s B-team. It looks like a never-ending TV series,” she said.
The BRS leader from Telangana said serving notices was the modus operandi of the BJP in poll-bound states.
The Enforcement Directorate has summoned the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to its Delhi office on Friday for questioning in the case over her alleged involvement in certain irregularities. Kavitha was questioned several times in March at the ED headquarters and had to submit her mobile phones to the federal agency for the investigation.
“Unfortunately, in the past one year, the investigation is happening. I don’t know how long it will happen. I don’t think even 2G ( scam) went on for so long. It is unfortunate, but it is political and highly politically motivated,” Kavitha said.
It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital.
The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor had recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
During its probe, the ED had recorded the statement of Butchibabu, an accountant allegedly linked to Kavitha, in which he had said “there was political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and deputy chief minister (Manish Sisodia).”
