Mass corruption in liquor licence distribution but no action was taken: Delhi Congress

PTI, Aug 19, 2022, 4:14 PM IST

Entering the CBI versus Delhi government fray, the state Congress on Friday said it too had raised the matter of “corruption” in the distribution of liquor licences with the previous police commissioner but no action was taken.

The Delhi Congress said it fought to prevent Delhi from becoming a drug capital and has pledged to send “hardcore dishonest to jail.” Delhi Congress Chief Anil Kumar said the party had in June written to the then Police Commissioner of Delhi, Rakesh Asthana, informing him of a “multi-crore scam” in the illegal distribution of liquor licences to shell companies.

He said the party had also staged several protests demanding the resignation of Delhi Excise Minister Manish Sisodia over the alleged violation of rules and procedural lapses in the Arvind Kejriwal government’s Excise Policy, 2021-22. ”CBI has registered a case against Kejriwal’s another corrupt minister Sisodia in the liquor scam and raids. The Congress fought from the road to the investigating agency to prevent Delhi from becoming a drug capital. We have promised to public to send these ‘hardcore dishonest’ to jail,” Anil Kumar tweeted in Hindi.

The CBI on Friday carried out searches at 21 locations in Delhi-NCR, including the premises of Sisodia, also the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, and IAS officer Arava Gopi Krishna, a 2012-batch IAS officer from the AGMUT cadre, officials said.

The CBI has registered the FIR in connection with the alleged irregularities in formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy brought in November last year, they said.

Besides Sisodia, the CBI raided the premises of four public servants, they said.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had recommended a CBI probe into the Kejriwal government’s Excise Policy, 2021-22, over alleged violations of rules and procedural lapses.