00:00The Supreme Court of India has granted conditional bail to K Kavita, the BRS leader, in connection
00:23with the Delhi liquor policy scam. K Kavita was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate
00:28ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI earlier this year. This arrest was seen
00:35as a major development in the Delhi excise policy scam ahead of the arrest of Delhi CM
00:40Arvind Kejriwal. The court's decision was based on several factors. Kavita had already
00:48spent over five months in jail. The investigation was complete, making her custody unnecessary.
00:55The trial is also not expected to begin soon and the law provides special treatment for
01:00women in bail applications. The Supreme Court had also strongly objected to Delhi High Court's
01:06earlier rejection of Kavita's bail plea, which had argued that her education and status as
01:12a former MP meant that she wasn't a vulnerable woman. The Supreme Court emphasised that court
01:18should exercise discretion judicially and not deny bail based on women's education and
01:23policy status. Kavita's legal team also argued that it's normal practice for women to get
01:29bail and pointed out that no recovery of the alleged 100 crore paid to AAP has been made
01:36by CBI or ED. They also addressed claims about the deleted text messages and reformatted
01:42phones, stating that changing phones is common behaviour for politicians. The prosecution
01:49questioned Kavita's actions regarding her phone and lack of data on the device used for several
01:54months. However, the court needed to be more convinced by these arguments, noting that the
01:59deleting message is normal conduct for many people. Kavita's bail also comes with several
02:05conditions, including directives to not tamper with evidence or influence any witnesses. Kavita
02:11must also pay a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh each for ED and CBI cases and surrender her passport.
02:19The case is a part of a larger investigation involving several major political figures,
02:24including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the former deputy Manish Sisodia. Sisodia
02:30was also recently granted bail on similar circumstances, with the court noting a delay
02:35in his trial. The BRS celebrated the decision, claiming that Kavita was illegally imprisoned for
02:43166 days without evidence, in a politically motivated case.
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