The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted K Kavitha bail following her arrest in March by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation in the Delhi liquor policy case.
Mobile phones and the practice of deleting old messages – as well as understanding who is a ‘vulnerable woman’ in this context, and so should be considered for release from prison – were the early focus of Telangana politician K Kavitha‘s bail hearing in the Supreme Court Tuesday morning.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader – who is also the daughter of ex Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao – was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam case and arrested a second time, this time by the CBI – a month later.
In July the Delhi High Court rejected Ms Kavitha’s bail plea, reasoning that she is, prima facie, a key accused and that there could be no grounds for bail as the investigation is in a “crucial stage”.
READ | Delhi High Court Rejects K Kavitha’s Bail Pleas In Liquor Policy Case
The court also rejected the plea on grounds of being a woman, declaring that Ms Kavitha as an educated person and former Member of Parliament, could not be considered ‘vulnerable’.
“Bail Is ‘Normal Practice’ For Women”
Appearing for Ms Kavitha, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that it is “normal practice” for women to be granted bail. He also pointed out the BRS leader had, by now, spent over five months in jail without either federal agency having recovered the Rs 100 crore the ‘South group’ allegedly paid as bribes to Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party in exchange for liquor wholesale licenses.
“She is an ex-MP and there is no chance she will flee from justice…the normal practice is that women do get bail,” he stressed, to which the court responded, “(But) she is not a ‘vulnerable’ woman.”
“There is no recovery… allegation is ‘South’ lobby paid Rs 100 crore but there is no recovery. The allegation is also she threatened a witness but it is only their word…” Mr Rohatgi replied.
On Phones And Deleted Messages
The argument then shifted to claims by the prosecution that Ms Kavitha had deleted text messages – key evidence, it was argued – from her mobile phone and then reformatted the device. In June authorities accused her of having wiped clean eight mobile phones and reformatted at least one.
However, Ms Kavitha has denied this claim. And today Mr Rohatgi hit out at the ED’s “bogus” claim”, arguing, “How can you say I ‘destroyed’ my phone… people change phones. I changed my phone.”
READ | K Kavitha Destroyed 9 Phones: Probe Agency
The prosecution, though, questioned Ms Kavitha’s actions, counter-arguing, “Why would you give a maid or a servant an iPhone (authorities had earlier said the BRS leader gave one of the reformatted phones to her maid)… her conduct amounts to tampering (with evidence).”
The prosecution also questioned how a phone used by a senior political leader for at least four months could contain no messages. “On examination of the phone it is found there is no data (but) you have been using the phone for four to six months?”
The Supreme Court, though, was unconvinced, and pointed out that “people delete messages”. “I have a habit of deleting messages… normal conduct. Any of us in this room (do it),” Justice KV Viswanathan said, but the prosecution responded, “You do not delete contacts, history…”
