The already strained ties between the Centre and the AAP government in Delhi plummeted Friday when Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, putting Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in-charge of the excise department, directly in the line of fire.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit back, saying the Lt Governor was making “false allegations” and leaders of the AAP were “not afraid of jail”.
The Lt Governor’s move follows a report submitted by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on the matter. The report, which officials said was submitted on July 8, accuses Sisodia of providing undue benefits to liquor vend licencees in lieu of “kickbacks” and “commissions” and the money being used in the recent Punjab elections.
Reached for comment, the Lt Governor’s office said, “Delhi Chief Secretary submitted a report highlighting procedural lapses and post tender benefits given to licencees. The Delhi L-G has sent recommendations to the Ministry of Home Affairs to get a CBI investigation done into the Delhi Excise Policy.”
Officials from the Lt Governor’s office said the Chief Secretary’s report alleged that the “Excise department, under direct orders of Sisodia, decided to allow a waiver of Rs 144.36 crore singularly to the liquor cartel, on the tendered licence fee, under the excuse of the Covid pandemic”.
According to officials, the report also alleged that decisions taken by the Excise department did not have the approval of the competent authority, which is the Cabinet and, subsequently, the Lt Governor.
The Delhi government had introduced the new policy to increase government revenue, improve consumer experience, reduce corruption and redistribute liquor shops in an equitable manner. Under the new policy, implemented in November last year, only private liquor shops now run in the Capital.
The Lt Governor’s decision drew sharp reactions from Kejriwal and Sisodia. “I have known Sisodia for 22 years and I have never seen anyone as honest or as much of a deshbhakt as him,” Kejriwal said.
“Sisodia made the lives and careers of lakhs of children studying in Delhi… Today, a judge’s son and a rickshaw puller’s son sit together and study at the same table… I have on several occasions, assembly session, press conference, told everyone that the Centre wants to arrest Sisodia. The Centre has adopted a new strategy to frame a person. First, it selects a person, tries to find something against them, and when it fails, it frames a false case and allegations to send the minister to jail,” he said.
ExplainedRevenue boost
The new excise policy is crucial for the Delhi government’s revenue target. Last September, before it was implemented, Sisodia said the government expected to earn around Rs 10,000 crore a year from bidding of liquor shops. Under the new policy, the licence fee had been increased substantially — from Rs 8-10 lakh earlier to Rs 6-6.5 crore per vend.
He also accused the Centre of going after AAP ever since it won the Punjab Assembly elections. “They are behind us as we… are expanding to other parts of the country. We are not afraid of jail. Savarkar ki aulad gets scared, we are Bhagat Singh’s aulad,” he said.
Sisodia, in a tweet, said: “Modi ji is very afraid of Kejriwal ji. People have become disillusioned with Modi ji. Now the country has hope only from Kejriwal ji. As AAP’s influence grows across the country, there will be many more false cases. But no jail can stop Kejriwal ji and AAP. The future belongs to AAP, the future belongs to India.”
Officials in the Lt Governor’s office claimed that “the probe by CBI will unearth the nefarious game being played at the cost of the people of Delhi and ascertain the quantum of kickbacks received by the AAP government and leaders, as also the use of this money to influence the Punjab elections.”
According to officials, the report by the Chief Secretary was submitted on July 8. The report, officials said, “establishes prima facie violations” of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules 1993, Delhi Excise Act 2009 and Delhi Excise Rules 2010.
Officials alleged: “These indicate substantively of financial quid pro quo at the top political level, wherein the minister in-charge of the Excise Department, Manish Sisodia, took and got executed major decisions/actions in violation of statutory provisions and the notified Excise Policy that had huge financial implications.”
Officials said the Chief Secretary raised questions on the Excise Policy under Rule 57 of the Transaction of Business Rules 1993, which mandate him to flag any deviation from laid down procedures to the Chief Minister and Lt Governor. Accordingly, after finding the alleged procedural lapses in the policy, the Chief Secretary sought a report from the Excise department, and later submitted the reply to the CM and Lt Governor, officials said.
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Soon after the Lt Governor’s decision, senior BJP leader and Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi targeted Kejriwal and his government for “violating rules and procedures and promoting cartelisation to benefit liquor firms”.
“Liquor policy was adopted illegally in Delhi. The people of Delhi have been cheated. Kejriwal ji should give full details of this scam on the basis of facts. What was the hurry that they had to sign papers without setting the agenda?” she said.
This is not the first time the BJP has targeted the Delhi government over the policy.
Soon after its implementation, it had objected to some liquor vends being in residential areas, or close to schools or religious places. AAP leaders countered it by alleging that the BJP was opposing the new policy because corruption in the old system benefited its leaders.
It has also been alleged that AAP may have used this money during the Punjab elections. (File Photo) 
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