New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday, granted bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha in both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases linked to the Delhi excise policy scam.

The ruling comes as a significant relief to the BRS leader, who has been entangled in the legal battle over allegations of corruption and money laundering.

A Bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan ordered that Ms. Kavitha be released immediately and mandated her to appear regularly before the trial court. The Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail was influenced by the sheer number of witnesses in the cases—493 in total—which made the prospect of a timely trial highly unlikely.

The court noted that both the ED and the CBI had completed critical stages of their investigations, with the ED having filed its prosecution complaint (the equivalent of a chargesheet) and the CBI having submitted its chargesheet in the predicate offence. The Bench concluded that there was no justification for Ms. Kavitha’s continued detention.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court invoked the special provisions accorded to women under Section 45(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, exempting Ms. Kavitha from the twin conditions usually required for bail in money laundering cases. According to Section 45 of the PMLA, bail can only be granted if the court is prima facie satisfied that the accused has not committed the offence and is unlikely to commit any offence while on bail. The court underscored that the Delhi High Court had erred in denying bail by concluding that Ms. Kavitha did not meet the criteria for a “vulnerable woman” under the PMLA.