The CAG reports highlights the alleged irregularities in the Policy that was brought during the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday tabled the first of the 14 pending CAG reports in the first session of the eighth Assembly. The report said that the Delhi government suffered cumulative losses of over Rs 2,000 crore due to the now-scrapped excise policy 2021-2022 for reasons ranging from weak policy framework to deficient implementation.
The report on the previous AAP government’s liquor policy has also flagged violations in the process of issuing licenses. The CAG pointed out that recommendations of an expert panel, formed to suggest changes for the formation of the now scrapped excise policy, were ignored by then deputy chief minister and excise minister Manish Sisodia.
The report added timely permissions were not taken for opening the liquor vends in “non-conforming municipal wards” even as the Master Plan Delhi 2021 prohibits the opening of liquor vends in non-conforming areas.
Responding to the report, the AAP said the report has confirmed their point that there was corruption in how much liquor was being sold. “This report shows that black marketing of liquor was happening and everyone knew which party people had the liquor contracts. More than 28 per cent of corruption was being done by the contractors and the money was going into the pockets of the brokers.”
Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Atishi claimed that in the eighth chapter, the CAG report says that the new policy was transparent, there were ways to stop black marketing and revenue should have increased through the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022 implemented by the then AAP government.
Slamming the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government, Speaker Vijender Gupta said, “It is amazing to know that the CAG report was not tabled in the Assembly after 2017-18. It was much needed to obtain the financial condition of the state. Unfortunately, the CAG report was not tabled… The previous government violated the Constitution.”
The Public Accounts Committee of the Assembly, which is yet to be formed, will review the report concerning the excise policy case. The 12-member committee, which includes representatives from the BJP and the AAP, may call Kejriwal, his then-Cabinet colleagues and private individuals for questioning. The committee aims to develop a report with recommendations for action against those responsible.
As per the CAG report, the Delhi exchequer incurred a total loss of `2,002.68 crore due to the excise policy because of a number of issues, including the opening of liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards (`941.53 crore), failure to re-tender, surrendered licences (`890 crore), Covid-linked waiver to retail licensees (`144 crore) and failure to properly collect security deposit (`27 crore).
The 2021-22 excise policy also violated licence rules, as wholesalers having manufacturing interests and connections with retailers controlled supply of nearly one-third of the total liquor trade in Delhi, posing a risk of monopolies and brand pushing.
The wholesaler’s margin also rose from an earlier 5 per cent to 12 per cent. Besides, the retail liquor licenses were given without proper checks and verification of solvency, financial statements and criminal background.
Even the recommendations of the expert committee that drafted the policy were changed by the group of ministers (GoM) headed by Sisodia. The expert committee had recommended liquor wholesale to be handled by a government agency, but GoM recommended wholesale to be handled by private entities.
The policy, which was aimed at disrupting monopoly in retail trade of liquor however posed risk of monopolies and brand pushing. Only three private wholesalers controlled 71 per cent supply of IMFL and foreign liquor in the city. Also, just 22 private entities were given licenses to run 849 liquor vends dispersed over 32 zones.
The key decisions with revenue implications were taken without taking approval of the Cabinet and the opinion of the L-G.
Also, the excise department issued licenses to entities not having proper quality test reports or having those not compliant with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms. In 51 per cent foreign liquor test cases, reports were either missing or over one year old.
After the report was tabled in the Assembly, Delhi PWD minister Parvesh Verma, who defeated Kejriwal in the just-concluded polls, said that the former CM should apologise to the people.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit urged the PAC to take the reports seriously and said that action should be taken on the irregularities.
The Delhi government and the BJP have been at loggerheads over the excise policy, with the AAP leaders maintaining that the policy aimed at boosting revenue, while the BJP accused the Kejriwal government of irregularities. The controversy remains a key political flashpoint in the capital with the Assembly session underway.
