Supreme Court asks Enforcement Directorate not to summon BRS leader K Kavitha in Delhi excise policy case till it hears her plea
New Delhi: The Supreme Court asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday to not summon BRS leader K Kavitha in the Delhi excise policy case till it hears her plea on November 20.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia gave the direction after Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, said the agency will not call Kavitha, a Lok Sabha MP, for questioning till the court hears her plea challenging the summons.
"We have to hear the matter. Don't call her in the meantime," the bench told Raju.
At the outset, senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary and advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing in the court on behalf of Kavitha, submitted that no coercive action be taken till then and the interim order passed by the bench on September 15 be extended.
The bench said, "You cannot say that a woman cannot be called for questioning at all, as a witness or in whatever capacity. Yes, there has to be some safeguards."
The bench posted Kavitha's plea, in which she has challenged the summons issued against her by the federal probe agency, on November 20 and said if interim orders of protection have been issued in related matters, those shall be extended.
Justice Kaul informed the lawyers that Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has constituted a special bench comprising him and Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi to hear review petitions challenging a July 27, 2022 verdict that had upheld the constitutional validity of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the ED's power of arrest under the anti-money laundering law.
He said the special bench will sit on October 18 and issue procedural directions with regard to the pleading.
"The only question which needs to be adjudicated is whether the grounds raised in the review petitions are covered by the 2022 verdict or not and if they are not covered, then the matter will be referred to a larger bench," Justice Kaul said.
On September 15, the ED had told the apex court that the summons issued to Kavitha for her appearance before the agency will be extended by 10 days.
The ED had issued the summons dated September 4 to Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, seeking her appearance at the agency's Delhi office on September 15.
She has approached the apex court with an application seeking directions to restrain the ED from calling her by way of a notice or summons under section 50 of the PMLA during the pendency of her petition.
In her plea, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader has sought protection from coercive action by the anti-money laundering agency on the ground that there are relaxations for women in various criminal laws, including the PMLA.
Section 50 of the PMLA deals with the powers of authorities regarding summons, production of documents, to give evidence etc.
The application has also sought a stay on the operation of the September 4 summons or any other summons and "all coercive measures relating thereto".
In a significant verdict on July 27, 2022, the top court upheld the ED's powers relating to arrest, attachment of property involved in money laundering, search and seizure under the PMLA that were challenged by multiple petitioners, including Congress leader Karti Chidambaram.
