Guwahati: The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena suggested on Friday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conduct an investigation into the disputed new excise policy of the Arvind Kejriwal-led administration in the nation’s capital.
A press release from the Lieutenant Governor’s office stated that a report from the Chief Secretary dated July 8 had proved numerous violations of the existing law “in addition to deliberate and severe procedural errors to grant post tender undue benefits to liquor licensees.”
The Lieutenant Governor mentioned Manish Sisodia as the deputy chief minister and claimed that the study suggests “significant” financial favours at the highest level of politics.
The Excise Department’s Minister in Charge, Manish Sisodia, “made and got executed, key decisions/actions in breach of the statutory provisions and the notified Excise Policy that had huge financial repercussions,” Saxena’s office said,
Additionally, he charged Sisodia with giving liquor licences excessive favours after the tenders were chosen, which resulted in enormous losses for the ex-chequer.
The new Excise policy 2021–22 went into effect on November 17 of last year, and 849 vends spread across the national capital’s 32 zones were awarded retail licences to private bidders.
Since they were situated in unsavoury parts of the city, many liquor stores never opened, and the municipal corporation sealed a number of them.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have complained to the Lieutenant Governor and government authorities, expressing their ardent opposition to the policy and seeking an investigation.