 "After Delhi, is it Punjab? Why state’s excise policy is under the scanner")
The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) arrest of Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor policy scam could throw a glimmer of doubt over Punjab’s new excise policy.
The BJP unit in Punjab is preparing to request an ED investigation into the state’s excise policy.
The development comes as the saffron party claims the new policy was tailored in line with the one in Delhi.
Let’s take a closer look.
BJP calls for probe into Punjab’s excise policy
State BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Friday said a party delegation will approach the Election Commission of India and seek an ED probe into the state’s excise policy.
“For the (Delhi) excise policy which Kejriwal had to see this day, the same model has been replicated by their government in Punjab,” Jakhar told reporters.
He said a high-powered delegation of BJP will go and meet authorities of the Election Commission on Saturday to demand an ED probe.
He alleged that state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema along with two senior officials had even attended a meeting with the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is under arrest in the Delhi excise case, for framing the state excise policy in May 2022.
“In Punjab, where Bhagwant Mann-led government acted at the behest of its Delhi masters now behind bars to allow official plunder of Punjab’s resources, and there is an apprehension that Punjab has lost at least Rs 1,000 crore in revenue due to this favouritism and illegality perpetrated through Punjab excise policy,” he alleged in the memorandum.
Impact Shorts
View All“The fact that one such company whose proprietor is behind bars already for receiving illegal benefits under the Delhi Excise Policy was handpicked and awarded 40 per cent share in Punjab Liquor trade after the inception of AAP government in the state might just be the tip of the iceberg as far as blatant connivance of Bhagwant Mann-led government in appropriating the liquor trade in Punjab is concerned,” Jakhar alleged.
The BJP leader said that Kejriwal should have resigned immediately after his arrest but his party leaders are saying that Kejriwal would continue as chief minister.
The state BJP chief said that Congress leaders in the state who had demanded an ED probe into the excise policy earlier should also approach the Election Commission.
“Kejriwal will go into the annals of history as the first sitting chief minister to go to jail in an excise policy case,” he said.
More on Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest:
Delhi liquor case: Arvind Kejriwal and other big leaders arrested
Arvind Kejriwal arrested: Can he continue as Delhi chief minister from jail?
How Arvind Kejriwal's arrest intensifies the AAP-BJP tussle
AAP’s reaction
Harpal Singh Cheema, the minister of finance and excise of Punjab, said that he was ready to face any probe.
“It is a good policy and our revenue from excise duties has increased by Rs 4,000 crore in just two years. We have managed to finish off the liquor mafia in the state,” he said, according to The New Indian Express.
AAP Punjab unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Kang slammed Jakhar for his accusations, claiming that revenue has increased from Rs 6,100 crore to Rs 10,000 crore in a year because of the state excise policy.
“They have a problem with Kejriwal because he strongly attacks the BJP’s anti-people policies and exposes it continuously. That is why they are afraid of him. The BJP does not want Arvind Kejriwal to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections, that is why it has got him arrested now," he alleged, as per PTI.
According to Indian Express which quoted AAP government sources, there is concern that the officials would become approvers, making the politicians easy targets for the ED.
The newspaper quoted a government functionary said, “Our policy is a hit, and we have earned crores of ruppes. But we don’t know how the Centre will behave. The ED is closing in, having already raided an AAP MLA associated with liquor vends in Punjab… The chatter in the Secretariat corridors is that no one knows what’s going to happen next.”
Past probes in Punjab excise policy
According to The New Indian Express, the central agencies had questioned three IAS officers and over dozen other officials regarding the excise policy in Punjab.
The policy is reportedly under the scanner after there were reports of allotment of wholesale liquor licenses (L1) to two Delhi-based companies, which are listed as accused in Delhi’s excise policy scam.
The excise policy of the state had prompted the ED to examine three Punjabi officials: K A P Sinha, the Finance Commissioner (Excise), and Varun Roojam and Naresh Dubey, the Commissioner and Joint Commissioners of the Excise and Taxation Department, respectively. In 2022, all three officials contributed to the formulation of the state’s excise policy, according to Indian Express.
The probe agency alleged that Roojam and Dubey were present at Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s residence, who is arrested in the same case, when the Punjab policy was framed. The agency then conducted raids at the duo’s residence.
Under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the CBI also sought permission from the state government to take legal action against the two officers last year. But the government had said nothing.
Sinha is now the Finance Commissioner (Development).
Kejriwal’s arrest
Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the federal probe agency after searches at his official residence at Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines area of the National Capital on Thursday, according to PTI.
Notably, the arrest—the first of its kind—took place soon after the Delhi High Court rejected Kejriwal’s request for immunity from any agency coercion.
Kejriwal’s name has been mentioned multiple times in the charge sheets filed by the ED in this case. The agency has alleged that the accused were in touch with Kejriwal to formulate the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for which they paid kickbacks to the AAP.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha was also arrested last week on Friday after the ED raided her residence in Hyderabad. Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia, Vijay Nair, Satyendar Jain were already jailed.
The Delhi excise policy case
The liquor excise policy under the AAP government has undergone numerous modifications in 2021.
As per another report by News18, among these were the discontinuation of state-run liquor stores and the issuance of operating licenses to private entities. The legal drinking age was also lowered from 25 to 21 years old.
Specific requirements for liquor brand registration were put out, including variables like cost and sales figures outside of Delhi.
In addition, the government suggested raising the yearly licence price for alcohol vending from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 75 lakh.
The move coincided with the Delhi government’s withdrawal from the retail liquor business, as 849 private vendors won licences through competitive bidding, the report said.
However, the implementation of the policy was clouded by the opposition’s allegations of corruption and favouritism during the licencing process.
The AAP faced additional difficulties when Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena of Delhi opened a probe into the new excise policy. A report from the top official in Delhi prompted Saxena to formally request an investigation by the CBI.
The government declared that the excise policy would be scrapped amid the growing criticism.
With inputs from PTI
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