The BJP on Tuesday stepped up attack on the AAP, claiming its government in Delhi ignored the violations of the excise policy and recommendations of an expert committee.
According to the Delhi Excise Policy, producers, retailers and distributors of liquor cannot be the same. Also, there cannot be common directors or shareholders, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
On October 25, 2021, the Delhi excise department had brought some cases of common producers, retailers and distributors to the notice of the government, but it did not act on it, he claimed.
BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma said that an expert committee had suggested against promotions to push liquor sales but the Delhi govt started giving a carton free on every carton sold.
The committee had suggested to follow the Karnataka model wherein the government is responsible for wholesale business. The panel said that no individual can be given more than one license.
"It had also recommended against opening liquor vends in non-conforming areas like villages and colonies without commercial markets. But the government ignored all these suggestions," he alleged.
The Centre has suspended senior IAS officer A Gopi Krishna and Anand Kumar Tiwari, a DANICS officer, in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case.
While Krishna was the excise commissioner in the Delhi government, Anand Kumar was the deputy excise commissioner.
The suspension order of the two officials came after they were named in the FIR filed by the CBI in the ongoing probe, officials said.
While Krishna is a 2012 batch Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre officer, Tiwari is a 2003 Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Civil Service (DANICS) cadre officer.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is among the 15 individuals and entities named in the FIR registered by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi government's Excise Policy 2021-22.
The agency on Friday carried out searches at 31 places including Sisodia's residence and premises of some bureaucrats, including Excise Commissioner Krishna and two other Excise Department officials, and businessmen.
The CBI on Monday questioned Managing Director of Indospirit Sameer Mahendru along with other accused named in the FIR.
The CBI in its FIR has mentioned two instances where Mahendru allegedly made payments totalling about Rs 4-5 crore to "close associates" of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also named in the FIR.
According to the FIR registered on a reference from Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, routed through the Union Ministry, Sisodia's "close associates"- Amit Arora, director of Buddy Retail Pvt. Limited in Gurugram, Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey - were "actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage collected from liquor licensees" to the accused public servants.
