Kalvakuntla Kavitha Gets _BAIL_ in Delhi Excise Policy Case

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan, questioned the probe agencies on the evidence they possessed to implicate Kavitha. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued for Kavitha's bail, highlighting that the investigations by both agencies had been completed. He also referenced the Supreme Court's decision to grant bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, who is a co-accused in the same cases.

However, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the probe agencies, accused Kavitha of tampering with evidence by formatting her mobile phone. Kavitha’s legal team dismissed this allegation as unfounded. The Supreme Court questioned the material evidence against Kavitha, emphasizing that she had already spent five months in custody and that her continued detention was unwarranted. The bench noted that the likelihood of the trial concluding in the near future was slim, and reiterated the principle that undertrial custody should not amount to punishment.

The Court also highlighted Kavitha's entitlement to the benefits provided to women under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Court criticized the Delhi High Court's earlier observations, which had denied bail to Kavitha based on her education and sophistication, asserting that such reasoning was flawed and discriminatory. "Courts should not differentiate between an MP and a common person, yet here we find an artificial distinction that is not supported by the statute," the Supreme Court observed, further stating that the single judge had misapplied the law in denying Kavitha bail.