The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on September 25 assured the Supreme Court that it would not summon Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha for questioning in the Delhi excise policy case till the next hearing on November 20.
A Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul gave Ms. Kavitha the short reprieve when the case briefly came up for hearing.
Earlier, the court had indicated its intention to test the Centre’s claim that the ED could summon the legislator anywhere, including to its office in Delhi, considering the court’s own judgment in 2022, which backed the Central agency’s vast powers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
In July 2022, a three-judge Bench of the apex court had in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary versus Union of India case upheld certain core amendments made to the PMLA, which gave the government and the ED virtually unbridled powers of summons, arrest, raids while making bail nearly impossible.
Ms. Kavitha, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, had highlighted the restriction placed on police officers under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against summoning women or questioning them at any place other than their own homes.
She had raised the question of whether a woman could be summoned to the ED’s office, while arguing that it was “completely against the law”.
Ms. Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, was previously questioned on March 11. She was summoned by the ED again on March 16.
She has argued that the ED’s summons is an intimidatory tactic. Ms. Kavitha alleged she had been compelled to produce her mobile phone and was questioned after sunset the previous time. She said her personal details had also been outed. Her petition said there was no case against the legislator
