BRS Leader K Kavitha Granted Bail by Supreme Court in Delhi Liquor Policy Case

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted conditional bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha in connection with the Delhi liquor policy scam. Kavitha was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March and subsequently by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a month later. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy, Manish Sisodia, are also implicated in the case.

Kavitha becomes the second major opposition leader to secure bail in this case; Manish Sisodia, who was arrested in February last year, was released earlier this month after the Supreme Court observed delays in his trial and ruled that indefinite detention would violate his fundamental rights.

Today, a two-judge bench consisting of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan noted that Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, had already been in jail for over five months. The judges observed that "the trial is not expected soon," even though the prosecution claimed its investigation was complete.

The court also highlighted that "the law provides special consideration for women in bail applications" and strongly criticised the Delhi High Court for rejecting her bail plea in July. The High Court had argued against granting bail to Kavitha despite her lawyer, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, asserting that it is "normal practice" for women to be granted bail. The court reasoned that her education and status as a former Member of Parliament disqualified her from being considered a 'vulnerable' woman.

The Supreme Court contended that the High Court had "misapplied" the relevant legal provisions. It stated, "... the courts, when deciding such matters, should exercise their discretion judiciously. The court cannot deny bail simply because a woman is highly educated or an MLA."

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Ms Kavitha, argued that it is "normal practice" for women to be granted bail. He noted that Kavitha had already spent over five months in jail without either federal agency recovering the ₹100 crore allegedly paid in bribes by the 'South group' to Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party for liquor wholesale licenses. Rohatgi emphasised that, as a former MP, there is no risk of her fleeing justice, asserting, "The normal practice is that women do get bail." The court responded that Kavitha did not meet the criteria of a "vulnerable" woman.

Rohatgi also pointed out that there had been no recovery of the alleged bribe money and argued that the claims of witness intimidation were based solely on the accusers' statements.

The discussion then turned to the prosecution's allegations that Ms Kavitha had deleted text messages—deemed crucial evidence—from her mobile phone and subsequently reformatted the device. In June, authorities accused her of erasing data from eight mobile phones and reformatting at least one. Ms Kavitha has denied these allegations. Today, Mr. Rohatgi criticised the ED’s "baseless" claim, arguing, "How can you accuse me of 'destroying' my phone? People frequently change phones. I simply changed mine."