Liquor stock seized in unapproved godown,belongs to SAD MLA Deep Malhotra’s son

Kamalpreet Kaur Brar,deputy excise and taxation commissioner,confirmed that the stock belonged to Gaurav Malhotra & Co but the department officials remained tight lipped on the penalty amount on the high profile contractor.

It needs to be mentioned that excise duty has been increased from Rs 196 per proof litre to Rs 200 per proof litre this year while the license fee has also been increased from Rs 13 per proof litre to Rs 25 per proof litre. Considering the seized stock,the sources in the department indicated that penalty may run in lakhs.

Brar also confirmed that the godown was unapproved and even the LI license had not been re-issued as yet. Sources revealed that last year the company had been challaned thrice because of some discrepancies in the stock and as per the rules of the excise and taxation department,the company,which had been challaned in the previous year,need to apply for a fresh LI license instead of getting it renewed again. Though an application had been received by the department,but the licence had not yet been renewed.

The stock found in the godown had IMFL brands,beer and country liquor and the entire stock was of last year,confirmed Bhupinder Gupta,assistant excise and taxation commissioner.

Meanwhile,sources said that after the department got to know that godown was of SAD MLA’s son they quickly stated they could not count the cartons at godown as it had no power. Saturday morning they again skipped the counting of the cartons stating that it was a holiday today.

It may be mentioned that though the stock was duty paid,it cannot be kept in a godown,which had not been approved by the excise department. Moreover the enhanced duty of the current year needs to be paid on the old stock as well,confirmed officials.