The Enforcement Directorate has summoned K. Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, on Thursday to record her statement in connection with its ongoing probe of the Delhi excise policy case, sources said.
According to sources, Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) MLC Kavitha has been summoned to testify before ED investigators and record her statement. According to sources, Kavitha will face off against Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, who was arrested in the case on Monday night.
ED’s investigation has revealed that Pillai is a key figure in the overall scam involving massive kickback payments and the formation of the South Group’s largest cartel.
Telangana MLC Kavitha, Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Group), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (MP, Ongole), his son Raghav Magunta, and others make up the South Group. Pillai, Abhishek Boinpalli, and Butchi Babu represented the South Group, according to the federal agency investigation.
Pillai and his associates were coordinating with various people to carry out the political agreement reached between the South Group and the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Pillai was an accomplice in the kickbacks from the South Group and the recoupment of the same from Delhi businesses, according to an ED investigation.
The ED previously stated that the South Group paid AAP leaders Rs 100 crore in kickbacks. Telangana MLC Kavitha, Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Group), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (MP, Ongole), his son Raghav Magunta, and others make up the South Group. Pillai, Abhishek Boinpalli, and Butchi Babu represented the South Group, according to the federal agency investigation.
Pillai and his associates were coordinating with various people to carry out the political agreement reached between the South Group and the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Pillai was an accomplice in the kickbacks from the South Group and the recoupment of the same from Delhi businesses, according to an ED investigation.
The ED previously stated that the South Group paid AAP leaders Rs 100 crore in kickbacks. Pillai is said to be a 32.5 percent partner in Indo Spirits, which has an L1 licence. Indo Spirits is a partnership firm of Arun Pillai (32.5 percent), Prem Rahul (32.5 percent), and Indospirit Distribution Limited (35 percent), wherein Arun Pillai and Prem Rahul represented the benami investments of Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghava Magunta.
In December of last year, Kavitha, a member of the Telangana Legislative Council, was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same case.
The ED filed its first chargesheet in the case last year. The agency stated that it has conducted nearly 200 search operations in this case since filing a FIR in response to a CBI case that was registered on the recommendation of the Delhi lieutenant governor.
According to officials, the CBI investigation was recommended based on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary’s report filed in July, which showed prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010.
Following the arrest of Sameer Mahendru, Managing Director of Delhi’s Jor Bagh-based spirits distributor Indospirit Group, in the case, the ED raided nearly three dozen locations in Delhi and Punjab in October and later arrested him. Early this week, the CBI also filed its first charge sheet in the case.
According to the ED and the CBI, irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced, and the L-1 licence was extended without the approval of the competent authority. To avoid detection, the beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account.
According to the allegations, the Excise Department decided to refund an Earnest Money Deposit of approximately Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer in violation of the established rules. Despite the lack of an enabling provision, COVID-19 allowed for a waiver on tendered licence fees from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022.
This allegedly resulted in a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer, which was instituted on a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and a reference from the Union Home Ministry.
