Kavitha moves default bail plea, says CBI filed ‘incomplete chargesheet’

New Delhi / Hyderabad: The Rouse Avenue Court has asked the CBI to file counter by next Thursday on the ‘default bail’ petition filed by BRS MLC K Kavitha, who has said that there are mistakes in the chargesheet filed by the CBI.

Kavitha approached the court seeking 'default' bail in the Delhi Liquor Policy case. Rouse Avenue Judge Kaveri Baweja asked the CBI to file a counter on her bail application demanding 'default bail' as the agency had filed an "incomplete chargesheet" within the stipulated time of 60 days.

The court also reserved orders on the point of taking cognizance of the third chargesheet filed by the CBI in the case. While the bail application was listed for further consideration on July 12, the court said it would pronounce an order on the point of cognizance on July 15.

Kavitha was arrested on March 15; she is in Tihar Jail under judicial custody. Last month, the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet against Kavitha, claiming there was sufficient evidence to prosecute her in the corruption case linked to the alleged excise scam.

She was asked about the WhatsApp chats recovered from co-accused Buchi Babu's phone and documents related to a land deal, after which Rs 100 crore was allegedly paid to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in kickbacks to swing the excise policy for the national capital in favour of a liquor lobby.

In her bail plea, Kavitha said the chargesheet is "incomplete", which gives her the ‘indefensible right to default bail’ under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). It said that while the law mandated the CBI to file a complete charge sheet within 60 days of arrest, Kavitha had already spent much more than that time in custody.

"It is amply clear that the third supplementary chargesheet has been filed with the sole purpose of obviating, scuttling, and preventing the release of the applicant on default bail, as well as circuitously violating the mandate of Section 309(2) of the CRPC. Such inchoate and incomplete investigations aimed at violating the applicant's right of release on default bail cannot be countenanced in law; the court would not be deterred to ensure that such sharp tactics do not come in the way of dispensation of justice to the applicant," the bail plea said.