Excise policy caused loss of Rs 2002 crores- CAG report; Kejriwal gets a shock
#News Bureau February 25,2025
Arvind Kejriwal has suffered a setback in the Delhi Excise Policy case. The CAG report states that this policy of the previous Kejriwal government caused a loss of Rs 2002 crore to the government. The BJP government in Delhi presented this report in the Assembly. The BJP has been continuously attacking Kejriwal and AAP in the excise policy case. Before the presentation of this CAG report, 21 AAP MLAs including Atishi were suspended for two days for the uproar in the House on this issue. Atishi is the leader of the opposition in the House.
The CAG report was presented in the Assembly amidst action against the opposition MLAs for the uproar. According to this, the Delhi government has suffered a total loss of Rs 2002 crore due to the excise policy of 2021-2022. The report states that reasons ranging from weak policy framework to inadequate implementation are responsible for this loss. This CAG report is one of 14 on the performance of the previous Aam Aadmi Party government to be presented by the new government led by Rekha Gupta.
This report presented in the excise policy case also mentions violations in the process of issuing licenses. It states that the recommendations of an expert panel formed to suggest changes in the policy were ignored by the then Deputy Chief Minister and Excise Minister Manish Sisodia.
The CAG report gives a detailed figure of the reasons for the loss. The report states that the exemption in issuing zonal licenses resulted in a loss of about Rs 940 crore, while the retender process caused a loss of Rs 890 crore. Due to the Covid pandemic restrictions, liquor traders were given a waiver of Rs 144 crore in license fees from 28 December 2021 to 27 January 2022. Apart from this, there was a revenue loss of Rs 27 crore due to not depositing the security deposit properly.
The report also alleges that some retailers continued to use the licenses till the end of the liquor policy, but some surrendered them prematurely. Businessmen interested in manufacturing and retail were given wholesaler licenses, and this benefited a set of people.
The CAG report claimed that the government issued licences without checking the excise terms and conditions.
Suspension of AAP MLAs
Speaker Vijender Gupta on Tuesday expelled 12 AAP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Atishi, from the House minutes after the session began on the second day of the Delhi Assembly. The action was taken for disrupting the address of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. This happened when AAP MLAs were seen raising slogans against the BJP for removing the pictures of BR Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh. Soon after this, the proceedings of the House were adjourned for 30 minutes.
After the suspension, Atishi said that the BJP has insulted Ambedkar by removing his picture from the Chief Minister’s office. She said, ‘The BJP has shown its true face by removing Babasaheb Ambedkar’s picture. Does it believe that Modi can replace Babasaheb?’ The suspended AAP MLAs protested with pictures of Ambedkar in the assembly premises and raised slogans of ‘Hindustan will not tolerate this insult to Babasaheb’.
What was the controversy over the excise policy?
Delhi’s new excise policy has been a major issue of contention between the AAP and the BJP. In July 2022, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI inquiry. After this, the BJP alleged alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the policy. Later, in several cases, the investigating agencies arrested top AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. They have spent several months in jail.
Let us tell you that the licenses were allotted in August 2021 and the shops were to be operational from November 17, 2021. Meanwhile, the Delhi Development Authority issued an order on November 16, 2021 not allowing shops to open in non-compliant areas. After this, the licensees approached the High Court. On December 9, 2021, the court exempted them from paying any license fee in respect of mandatory shops in 67 non-compliant wards. Due to this, there was a waiver of license fee of Rs 114.50 crore per month.
