Delhi: 468 liquor shops to be shut from Monday as govt withdraws new excise policy
Delhi's 468 private liquor shops operating in city will be shut from August 1 as the term of their licences under the excise policy 2021-22 expires on July 31.
The Delhi government on Saturday announced the withdrawal of the new excise policy for the time being and directed the sale of liquor only through government-run vends, close on the heels of Lt Governor V K Saxena recommending a CBI probe into alleged violations in its implementation.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of using agencies like the CBI and ED to threaten liquor licensees and excise officials but the BJP alleged that the AAP government's "rushed" move was an "admission of violations and corruption" and it was "scared" of the CBI probe.
The 468 private liquor shops operating in the city will be shut from August 1 as the term of their licences under the excise policy 2021-22 expires on July 31.
Lt Governor VK Saxena, based on a report of the Delhi Chief Secretary, had recommended a CBI probe into alleged violations of rules and procedural lapses in the implementation of the Excise Policy 2021-22.
Targeting the BJP, Sisodia alleged they were "running an illegal liquor business in Gujarat" and wanted to do it in Delhi also.
"They want to create a shortage of liquor so that they can run an illegal liquor trade in Delhi like they are doing in Gujarat. But we will not let this happen," Sisodia said.
The deputy chief minister, who also holds the excise portfolio, said in a press briefing that the Delhi chief secretary has been directed to ensure that liquor is now sold through government shops only and there is no chaos.
He alleged that the BJP was playing "dirty politics" to promote the liquor mafia in Delhi.
He claimed the BJP was using agencies like the CBI and ED to threaten liquor licensees, many of whom have now shut shops, and the excise officials who were scared to start open auctions of retail licences.
"We will not let BJP sell even a drop of spurious liquor in Delhi. We are standing firm on our ground to fail BJP's nefarious plans. To save the people from the hooch tragedies like Gujarat, the government has decided to allow the sale of liquor only through the government shops in Delhi from August 1," Sisodia said.
Union minister and MP from New Delhi Meenakshi Lekhi, however, asked the Aam AAadmi Party (AAP) government to answer the questions and charges of corruption levelled by the BJP leaders since the implementation of the new excise policy.
"The Kejriwal government in Delhi is scared of the CBI probe that would expose its corruption and has hence taken back its new excise policy. The AAP should answer why the commission of licensees under the policy was increased from 2.5 per cent to 12 per cent," she said at a media briefing.
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said the AAP government's decision to scrap its new policy was a victory of Delhiites and the BJP workers who were protesting against it. He alleged that the AAP spent the money made from it in the Punjab Assembly elections.
"If the new excise policy of Kejriwal isn’t a mega scam, then why is his Govt rushing to revert to the old policy after CBI inquiry was ordered? In other words, it is an admission of violations, corruption and loss to exchequer as pointed out. Sisodia to join Satyendra in jail?" BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya tweeted, referring to the LG's recommendation.
The lieutenant governor had last week also directed the Delhi chief secretary for an enquiry into the role of excise department officials in the alleged irregularities as well as the complaint of cartelisation in issuing of retail liquor licences through bidding.
Sisodia claimed that if the legal sale of liquor is stopped in Delhi, it may witness a "hooch tragedy" as in BJP-ruled Gujarat, where prohibition has been imposed.
Forty-two people from Botad and the neighbouring Ahmedabad district in Gujarat died after consuming spurious liquor on July 25, while 97 people are admitted to hospitals in Bhavnagar, Botad and Ahmedabad.
Under the Delhi government's new excise policy, nearly 468 liquor stores are running in Delhi at present. The policy, which was extended twice after April 30 for a two-month period each, will end on July 31.
Addressing reporters at his residence, Sisodia said under the old excise policy, there were many government liquor vends mired in "huge corruption". But that was stopped with the new excise policy, the deputy chief minister said. In the new excise policy, licences were issued through open tenders in a transparent manner, he said.
"Under the old regime, the government used to earn a revenue of Rs 6,000 crore, while through the new excise policy the government was set to get Rs 9,500 crore revenue in the entire year," Sisodia said.
Accusing the BJP of threatening licensees and excise officials through the CBI and the ED, Sisodia claimed out of 850 liquor shops, only 468 could open as many were shut by shop owners following "threats from the BJP".
More shop owners wanted to shut shops following such threats, he alleged.
"They (BJP) want to reduce the sale of legal quantities of liquor. Like Gujarat, they want to promote the sale of spurious, off-duty liquor by threatening Delhi's shop-owners, officers," Sisodia alleged.
Comparing the number of shops in BJP-ruled states with Delhi, Sisodia said in Haryana's Gurugram one liquor shop is opened per 4,166 people while in Goa the ratio is 761 people and in Noida, one liquor shop is opened per 1,390 people.
Delhi has one liquor shop for 22,707 people, Sisodia said.
The excise department is still working on the Excise Policy 2022-23 that recommends, among other things, home delivery of liquor in Delhi. The draft policy is yet to be sent to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena for his approval, officials said
Sisodia said that he has ordered the excise department and chief secretary to ensure that no cases of corruption and sale of spurious liquor are reported in the city after private shops are shut from August 1.
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