In a big relief to BRS leader Kalvakuntla Kavitha, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted her bail in the Delhi excise policy scam being prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate of Enforcement.

Granting bail to Kalvakuntla Kavitha, a bench of Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice K.V. Viswanathan noted that the investigation in both the cases is over, a charge-sheet has been filed and the trial will take a long time to conclude.

“Investigation is complete and the charge-sheet has been filed. Custody of the appellant (K Kavitha) is not necessary. She has been behind the bars for five months. The likelihood of the trial being concluded in the near future is impossible. As said in various pronouncements of this court, undertrial custody should not turn into a punishment,” the court said in its order granting bail to Kavitha.

Further noting that Kavitha was entitled to beneficial treatment available to accused women under the proviso to Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the bench described as perverse the Delhi High Court observation that she being an educated and independent person was not entitled to relaxation available to women under the law.

“If this Delhi High Court order is allowed to become law, these perverse observations would mean that no educated woman can get bail. It would apply at least to all courts in the jurisdiction of Delhi. What is this?! On the contrary, we say courts should not differ between an MP and common person, but here (High Court is) is finding an artificial discretion not there in the statute,” the top court said, taking a dim view of the High court observation.

Observing that the courts should be more sensitive towards the women accused under the PMLA, the top court in its order said, “Courts need to be more sensitive and sympathetic to those in that category. We find that the learned single-judge has totally misdirected herself in applying the proviso.”

The line of reasoning applied by the top court for granting bail to Kavitha – the investigation is over, charge-sheet has been filed and trial will take a long time to conclude – was earlier relied upon in granting bail to Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia.

The Directorate of Enforcement had arrested Kavitha on March 15 from Hyderabad and subsequently CBI took her in custody on April 1, 2024. Both the Central agencies have alleged that she was involved in exchange of bribes and the laundering of money.

Kavitha was denied bail in both – the CBI and the ED – cases by the trial court on May 6 and the High Court refused her bail in both the cases on July 1, 2024.