ED had sought remand of five more days on the same terms and conditions under which the court had sent her to the seven-day custody on March 17.
Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court has asked to present her on March 26.
Kavitha had also filed an application for bail which was opposed by the Enforcement Directorate.
Opposing the bail application moved by Kavitha, ED’s special counsel Zoheb Hossain said that the application was “not maintainable at this stage of the investigation”.
The probe agency claimed that data from Kavitha’s mobile phone has been extracted and is being analysed. It said that there was evidence to establish that the mobile data was erased during the investigation.
Hossain said Kavitha has been confronted with statements during the probe and that she “conspired” to pay the kickbacks of Rs 100 crores.
Adding further, the ED said that Kavitha’s nephew, who was “involved in utilising the proceeds of crime”, did not appear despite multiple summonses in the wake of which searches are under way at several locations.
“Search is going on in his premises as we speak. We have also filed an application for interrogation of Sameer Mahendru for utilisation of proceeds of crime of nephew of Kavitha,” Hossain said as per Live Law.
Arguing for Kavitha, advocate Nitesh Rana said ED is seeking some documents from her which won’t be possible to provide unless she is granted bail.
Earlier, the ED counsel made spirited arguments that the agency had gathered sensitive evidence against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC who has been avoiding the probe and trying to influence the investigation in the money laundering case in Delhi’s excise policy scam.
Sources said the evidence against Kavitha includes destroying all data on her mobile phones, besides other crucial findings in the money trail of the alleged Rs 100 crore bribe paid by the ‘South Group’. The latter controlled retail liquor distribution in the national Capital through “front entities” and has been accused of paying bribes to senior leaders of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Before she was flown to Delhi on Friday, ED faced obstructions from BRS workers in Hyderabad, leading the agency to seek protection from Telangana police.
When Kavitha was deposed before ED and deposited her mobile phones as demanded last year, the agency on forensic examination found that all data and call records were erased by the accused, a source said.
Anna Hazare hits out at Kejriwal over liquor policies| Rahul calls PM Modi ‘Frightened Dictator’| Opposition condemns Delhi CM’s arrest
Deleting data from the handset used during the period of the alleged crime is considered the destruction of evidence by the agency. Sources said the probe found that Kavitha had at least 10 IMEI numbers reflected against her two mobile numbers, indicating a change of handsets multiple times.
The erasing of data was seen as an attempt to destroy evidence of call records and messages exchanged with other accused in the liquor scam.
Last week, the special PMLA court rejected Kavitha’s plea that her arrest was illegal given that her case was pending in the Supreme Court.
However, the ED argued that it had followed the SC’s instructions and there was no stay on her arrest or carrying out an investigation into the excise policy scam.