The BRS leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 15.

New Delhi:

A Delhi court has allowed the CBI to question BJP leader K Kavitha in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. Ms. Kavitha was arrested last month by the Enforcement Directorate, which was probing the money laundering angle of the alleged scam.

The CBI, which has started a preliminary investigation into the liquor policy case, has moved the Raus Avenue court in Delhi seeking permission to question BRS leader, party president and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter.

Appearing in court on Friday, lawyers for the CBI said Ms Kavitha failed to heed previous notices and summons for questioning and that the agency needed to get details from her about evidence gathered during the investigation. The petition was approved by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who is in charge of ED and CBI cases.

The BRS leader, who is also a member of the Telangana Legislative Council, was arrested by the ED on March 15 after her residence in Hyderabad was raided.

The agency alleged that Ms Kavitha was part of a lobby group called the ‘South Group’, which allegedly offered kickbacks of Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders in exchange for access to Delhi’s lucrative liquor market to its members To get a piece of the action, the market generates unusually high profits. Under the new consumption tax policy, wholesalers’ profit margins are 12% and retailers’ profit margins are close to 185%.

The BRS leader was placed in 14-day judicial custody on March 26 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. She also sought emergency interim bail on the ground that her minor son’s examination was about to be held and the order in her application has been stayed.

Ms. Kavitha claimed that the case against her was false and fabricated. She also accused the BJP of political money laundering, claiming that at least one person involved in the scam provided funds to the party through electoral bonds.

Besides Ms Kavita, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his former deputy Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh Sanjay Singh was also arrested in the case. Mr. Singh was released on bail on Tuesday, while the others remain in jail.