BY V Awasthi
The liquor syndicate of Delhi is a worried lot. Specially after, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia shared with the media, recommendations made by the Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding the new Excise Policy for the Capital. Sensing an imminent danger of their cartel being shattered and the end of the brand pushing era, especially with the closure of all government-owned liquor vends, the syndicate seems to be desperate now.
In a brazen attempt to play politics and further create a wedge between the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the Aam Aadmi Party government of Delhi, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a little-known organization named Delhi Liquor Traders Association, has shot off a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, demanding a CBI enquiry into the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding the new Excise Policy of Delhi.
This organization - Delhi Liquor Traders Association, which claims that one Naresh Goyal is its President, has sent copies of the same letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister P.K. Mishra and Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
The letter says “Your Excellency is urged to establish a fact-finding committee in this respect to ascertain which players are manipulating and maneuvering the policy in their favour and to get these manipulations investigated by an impartial investigation agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation”.
The letter says that “neither the association nor any liquor vend operators were invited for an oral hearing to put forth the views of the fraternity before the group of ministers…….” On the contrary, it was on December 30, 2020, that the Delhi government has sought suggestions from all stakeholders to formulate the new excise policy. The Excise Department, through a public notice, had asked stakeholders to submit their suggestions within the next 15 days. Suggestions could be emailed to dcexcise@nic.in or else hard copies could be submitted at the deputy commissioner`s office.
Even Naresh Goyal had at that time come on record and had spoken to the media expressing happiness at the open attitude of the Delhi government in talking to all stakeholders including him, before the Group of Ministers (GoM) gave its recommendations for forming the new excise policy of Delhi.
Another allegation in the letter says “the exclusionary eligibility criteria is carefully designed to qualify only 1-2 players and is therefore clearly corruption”. This point is again far off from reality as there are more than 25 players who meet the criteria. Brindco Sales, Indo Bev, Elite, Adie Browson, Majithia, Mohali Wines, Liquor World, I’m Sons, Wave Group are a few names mentioned here against a long list of players who qualify in this proposed new system.
An important point to be mentioned here is that while giving a three-month extension to liquor vend operators in Delhi, the Excise Department had taken an affidavit from all vend operators that the new excise policy would be acceptable to them. Once all 288 private vend operators have given their consent in writing to the Excise Department, what is the validity of the letter of the Delhi Liquor Traders Association?
A liquor vend operator of Delhi, said on condition of anonymity “I do not know why businessmen like us are trying to become political leaders. We are not owners of liquor vends and have got these vends on contract basis. Our work is to provide quality products to the people of Delhi till the time we have the vends with us”.
Another operator said that “liquor does not come under the list of essential commodities and thus why such hue and cry is being raised by a self-proclaimed association over the recommendations of the new liquor policy is simply not understandable. Excise is a state matter and Delhi government is well within its rights to formulate a new policy.”
While announcing the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sent out a Tweet on March 22, saying that the “Mafia will do everything to obstruct these reforms”
Excise reforms announced today will act as a major blow to liquor mafia in Del. The mafia will do everything to obstruct these reforms. AAP govt has ended mafia raj in many sectors like education, water, elect, health etc. We r committed to reforming this sector too https://t.co/pbk1NnfhO2
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 22, 2021
And now, the last thing to be seen is that whether the office of the Lt. Governor, takes any heed of this letter from the Delhi Liquor Traders Association, which has made several serious allegations against the Delhi government, just on basis of the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM), while the final policy is yet to be declared!
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