The Directorate of Vigilance has issued a show-cause notice to Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) chairperson Zakir Khan for his alleged role in getting interns from his office to generate "fabricated emails" in favour of the now-scrapped excise policy at the instructions of then Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. According to government sources, Khan, as per the notice, is accused of having "very actively assisted" the manipulation of public opinion by getting emails favouring several provisions of the new policy sent to a dedicated email address issued by the Delhi government to seek public feedback regarding them by individuals engaged as interns with the Commission. These, sources said, included the allotment of retail liquor licences through the auction of zones, reduction of Excise and VAT, enhancement of licence fee, and increase in the number of liquor vends, and are part of the CBI chargesheet filed in the case on August 17, 2022. These provisions were, as per the chargesheet, at variance with the recommendations of an expert committee formed by the Delhi government to assess them. Reacting to the development, Khan told The Indian Express that he had not received such a notice, adding his tenure as DMC chairperson had already come to an end. "I have not received any such notice. Apart from that, I have already been questioned by ED and CBI on these allegations and have cooperated with both agencies," he said. Government sources, however, said Khan was still "very much in office" and now faced termination from his post. Asking him to clarify his stand on the matter and explain why he should not be removed from office in public interest, the notice issued to Khan, according to government sources, quotes the CBI chargesheet regarding allegations of Sisodia's intentions to manipulate the process of seeking comments and suggestions from the public and stakeholders through him. Sisodia was arrested in the case in February. As per the chargesheet, interns engaged by the Commission sent emails to a dedicated email ID of the excise department with a copy to Sisodia's email ID on January 14 and 15, 2021, batting for the new policy's provisions. Directions, according to the chargesheet, were issued to get multiple emails favouring the implementation of certain provisions of the policy sent to the dedicated email address; the provisions were ultimately incorporated in the new excise policy and were, according to the chargesheet, at "complete variance" with the recommendations of the Expert Committee. This, the CBI has stated further in its chargesheet, proved that Sisodia was "working with pre-conceived ideas for the formulation of the Excise Policy" and was "planting manufactured public opinions/suggestions" in their support.
