Kavitha Forced Aurobindo Director to Pay Up for Her in Delhi

Hyderabad: BRS MLC K. Kavitha, the daughter of former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, had allegedly threatened Aurobindo Pharma director P. Sharath Chandra Reddy to harm his business interests in Telangana and Delhi after he reportedly expressed inability to pay Rs 25 crore for five zones which were allotted to him under the new liquor policy, said a CBI petition.

The CBI on Thursday arrested Kavitha in connection with the Delhi liquor policy scam. The arrest was affected after a local court dismissed her bail petition and also a plea challenging her arrest. After the arrest, the CBI sought a five-day police custody of Kavitha.

In its petition, the CBI told the court that it found stunning evidence to establish the role of Kavitha in the Delhi liquor scam case. It said that in June-July 2021, Kavitha had compelled Sharath Chandra Reddy to enter into a sale agreement with her for an agricultural land situated at Mahbubnagar, although he was not keen to purchase it and was not aware of its value.

However, Kavitha insisted that he pay Rs 14 crore for the land and forced him to enter into a sale agreement through Mahira Ventures Pvt Limited, one of the companies under the Aurobindo Group, in July 2021. The total payment of Rs 14 crore was made to Kavitha through bank transactions — Rs 7 crore in the first week of July 2021 and another Rs 7 crore in mid-November 2021. The CBI said no land was transferred.

The CBI further stated that the investigation revealed that Ashok Kaushik, then PA to Kavitha, had stated that he had delivered huge amounts of cash on the directions of the accused Abhishek Boinapally for onward delivery through hawala channels to Goa during the relevant period. The records, call data records, and statements of ‘angarias (trusted persons)’ confirmed the delivery of Rs 25 crore through Ashok Kaushik.

The CBI said that Kavitha had assured Sharath Chandra Reddy of support for doing business in Delhi under the liquor policy following which a payment of Rs 80 lakh was made to Telangana Jagruthi, an NGO of Kavitha, under corporate social responsibility (CSR) through Aurobindo Reality and Infrastructure, one of the companies under the Aurobindo Group, in March 2021.

Following the court directions, the CBI would take custody of Kavitha and shift her to the CBI headquarters for questioning in connection with the Delhi liquor scam. The court also directed the CBI to allow family members and advocates to meet Kavitha during the custody period.

The court directed the CBI to question Kavitha at a place with CCTV coverage, film the proceedings, and preserve the footage. The court also permitted Kavitha to meet her advocate P. Mohitha Rao for half an hour daily between 6 pm and 7 pm. The meeting would take place in a manner where the CBI would not be able to overhear their conversations.

The court allowed Kavitha to meet her family members, husband Anil Kumar, brother K.T. Rama Rao, and Sharath Chandra Vala, her assistant, every day for 15 minutes.

The court also allowed an assistant to bring home-cooked food for Kavitha. Upon her request, the court also allowed Kavitha to have her jap mala, dresses, mattress, bedsheets, towels, and pillow and to carry the books ‘The Paradoxical Prime Minister,’ ‘Elon Musk,’ ’The Nutmegs Curse,’ ‘Rebel Against The Raj’ and ‘Roman Stories.’