NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday remanded Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and Telangana lawmaker K Kavitha in judicial custody till April 9 at the end of her custodial interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its investigation into money laundering charges linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22 case.

Special judge Kaveri Baweja ordered Kavitha’s judicial remand on ED’s request which contended that she was very influential and could influence witnesses and tamper with the evidence if released on bail.

Kavitha, 46, daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was arrested by the ED from her Hyderabad residence on March 15 evening. She was produced before the court on March 16 and remanded in ED custody till March 23. On Saturday, the judge extended her ED custody till Tuesday.

Kavitha’s legal team comprising senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari and advocates Nitesh Rana and Deepak Nagar, moved an interim bail application citing the school examination of her 16-year-old son. A regular bail application is already pending before the judge.

The special court has listed the interim bail application for a hearing on April 1 after special public prosecutor Zoheb Hossain, appearing for ED, sought time to file a reply.

Kavitha initially approached the Supreme Court for bail but the top court declined to pass orders on her request on March 22, directing the lawmaker to first approach the trial court. The top court said it would not directly hear her bail request merely because she was a political person or could afford to come directly to the top court.

Although she was not named as an accused in any of the six charge sheets filed by ED since November 2023, Kavitha was referred to as a key person in the excise policy-related irregularities in the court documents, according to ED.

The primary allegation against Kavitha is that she was part of a cartel, the alleged ‘South Group’ of businessmen and politicians and paid Rs. 100 crore kickbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in lieu of getting nine retail zones under the Delhi excise policy. Other members in this group were Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Group) and Delhi businessman Sameer Mahendru.

The BRS leader is also under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) scanner, which is conducting a parallel corruption probe in the case and had issued a summons to her last month, but she cited an exemption granted by the Supreme Court