New Delhi: A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the now-scrapped excise policy by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi pointed out several “lapses” in the policy. The CAG report claimed that Rs 2,026 crore loss was incurred to the exchequer. The report was released days ahead of the Delhi Assembly Elections 2025. The report alleged that AAP leaders got “kickbacks”. Notably, it is a draft CAG report as it is yet to be tabled in the Delhi Assembly.
The CAG report also claimed that licence norms were flouted. Notably, the then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was heading the excise department when the policy liquor excise policy was introduced in Delhi. The report highlighted that Sisodia ignored recommendations by the expert panel over the policy.
It also pointed out that arbitrary decisions were taken without any approval from the Lieutenant Governor.
– The 2021 liquor policy caused a whooping loss of Rs over 2,000 crore.
– The entities bidding for the license were not financially strong, yet they were allowed to bid.
– The approval from the then Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the cabinet was not taken.
– Deviation from the objectives of the policy.
– There is a lack of transparency.
– Violation in the issuance of licences.
Breakdown of the total losses:
As per the CAG report, some of the retailers did not surrender their licences before the expiry of the policy and they were not rendered by the AAP government causing the loss of Rs 890 crore. Zonal licensees were granted exemptions, which reported caused an additional loss of Rs 941 crore. Meanwhile, another license fee waiver of Rs 144 crores was also granted to zonal licensees on the pretext of the COVID restrictions.
The AAP questioned the existence of the CAG report on the Delhi liquor policy scam case.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress lhit at the AAP over the repoprt.
“… CAG has revealed the whole story of the corruption of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who has played the role of a broker by destroying the happiness of Delhi… This is the same CAG report which Arvind Kejriwal used to wave in 2013 to fight against Sheila Dikshit and today the same CAG report has declared Arvind Kejriwal corrupt…” BJP leadre Manoj Tiwari told ANi.
“CAG has said that there has been a scam of Rs 2000 crores in the liquor policy… Now it is clear that he (Arvind Kejriwal) has done wrong… He has emptied the government treasury. If Rs 2000 crores have been spent in 6 months due to the liquor policy. If that scheme was still running, we would have suffered a loss of Rs 10,000-12,000 crores,” Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit stated as reported by the news agency.
The excise police which was implemented in November 2021. As per the policy, the Delhi government also proposed an increase in the annual liquor vending license fee from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 75 lakh. It was scrapped in 2022 after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption in the policy.
AAP bigwigs including former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former Delhi minister Satyendra Jain were arrested in connection with the case. They all are now out on bail, but the probe is still underway.
Telangana CM KCR’s daughter and BRS MLC K Kavitha was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case in March last year. Later in April of the same year, she was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The federal probe agency in its probe also claimed that the AP received kickbacks from businessmen due to the policy and the money was used in the 2022 Go Assembly polls.
