SC to hear K Kavitha’s plea on March 24; refuses interim relief

The Supreme Court on Wednesday did not grant any interim relief to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha, however, it agreed to hear her plea challenging the summons of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 24. The ED has asked BRS MLC K Kavitha to appear again before it on March 16. The court has agreed to hear her petition on March 24 in connection with a money laundering case related to Delhi excise policy irregularities matter. Kavitha, who is the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, has approached the Supreme court saying as per norms a woman cannot be summoned for questioning before ED in office and her questioning should take place at her residence. The advocate for Kavitha said that a woman is now being summoned by ED for questioning and that it is “completely against the law”. Kavitha’s lawyer mentioned the plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and sought an urgent hearing on her petitions. The court agreed to list it on March 24. The court asked the lawyer what was the urgency in the matter and the lawyer replied that Kavitha has been asked to appear before ED tomorrow. In a petition filed through advocate Vandana Sehgal, Kavitha has urged the top court to quash the ED summons dated March 7 and 11 stating that asking her to appear before the agency office instead of her residence is contrary to the settled tenets of criminal jurisprudence and thus, wholly unsustainable in law being violative of the Proviso to Section 160 of Cr.P.C. She has also sought that all procedures carried out by ED, including those in relation to the recording of statements be audio or videographed in the presence of her lawyer at a visible distance inter-alia by way of installation of appropriate CCTV cameras.