Liquor policy caused Rs 2,002 cr loss to Delhi government, claims CAG report
PTC News Desk: A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday has revealed that the liquor policy which was implemented in November 2021 and scrapped in September the next year caused a loss of Rs 2,002.68 crore to the Delhi government.
The liquor policy resulted in several top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party including Former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Satyendra Jain's incarceration. Several corruption allegations surrounding the liquor policy were levelled against the party leaders.
The incumbent BJP government in Delhi has announced that it would table all the 14 pending CAG reports during the ongoing Assembly session.
The tabling of report in assembly lead to the suspension of 12 opposition MLAs prompting them to stage a sit in in assembly premises. Meanwhile, the CAG report on the liquor policy, which covered a period of four years from 2017-18 to 2020-21, also revealed that the Delhi government faced a revenue loss of approximately Rs 890 crore due to failure to re-tendering surrendered licenses, while delay in action led to losses worth Rs 941 crore due to exemptions granted to zonal licensees.
The report also states that the biggest chunk of the loss, Rs 941.53 crore, was because liquor shops were not allowed to open in non-conforming areas - those that do not conform to land use norms for opening liquor vends - under the new policy.
Meanwhile, the government also issued licenses without checking the requirements related to the Excise Terms and Conditions, the report claimed.
"It was observed that licenses were issued without ensuring solvency, submission of audited financial statements and data regarding sales, and verification of criminal antecedents," it added.
- PTC NEWS
