Liquor wars: Govt trains guns on former L-G, Sisodia says he changed stance on vends

Sisodia, who also holds the excise portfolio, had announced on July 30 that the new excise policy would be rolled back. This came after current L-G VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the new policy over alleged irregularities, and Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing launched a probe into the excise department.

At a press conference on Saturday, Sisodia said: “In May 2021, the Cabinet passed the new excise policy. We said the number of liquor shops will remain the same. But in the earlier policy, shops were unevenly distributed — some wards had 25 shops, some had none… some malls had many shops. In the new policy, this principle was highlighted that there will be equitable distribution of shops, but the number of shops will not change. This was an important provision.”

There were 849 shops earlier, and even under the new policy, the number of shops was to remain the same, as per Sisodia.

The policy was then sent to the L-G for approval and he made important suggestions for changes, Sisodia said. “All suggestions were accepted, and the new policy was sent to the L-G in June. He read it carefully and it was then passed. The policy said unequitable distribution will be stopped. In every ward, there will be two-three shops, including in unauthorised areas,” Sisodia said.

But the L-G’s office then changed its decision, he claimed. “The L-G read the policy and then approved it. After this, tenders were issued… In the first week of November, the proposal to open shops was sent to the L-G, since they were to be opened from November 17 onwards, including in unauthorised areas. On November 15, the L-G laid down a new condition that to open shops in unauthorised areas, permission from the DDA and MCD is needed. When he read the policy, this condition was not laid down,” he said.

“Why was this decision changed 48 hours before? Which shop owners made a profit? Did the L-G make the decision himself or under pressure from someone? I have written to the CBI asking for a probe,” Sisodia said. “The real corruption was here… where the decision was changed.”

Sisodia said that every year, shops were being opened in unauthorised areas even before the new policy kicked in: “Every year, these files were approved. This was approved even when the policy mentioned it. But when it went to the L-G office as a file to open the shops, the L-G office changed its stand.”

“Because of this, shops were not able to open in unauthorised (areas). The new licensees went to court, which ordered that in unauthorised wards, licence fees be relaxed on a pro-rata basis and they be given a rebate. Because of this, the government faced thousands of crores of losses. Without discussing it with the Cabinet or government, the L-G changed his decision. The new excise policy would have brought revenue to the government, but instead, it caused losses because of this change in the L-G’s stand,” he claimed.

“The most important thing here is that some shops were allowed to open, others were not. Those allowed to open shops made profits. This was a deliberate attempt to ensure some vendors got profits and others faced losses,” Sisodia added.

In his communication to the CBI, Sisodia wrote: “Through the new excise policy, in one financial year, the government was to get Rs 9,000 crore. In this financial year, with the new policy, the government was supposed to get Rs 3,713 crore, but got only Rs 2,352 crore in four and a half months.”

Hitting out at the government, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a press conference: “When the heat of the investigation has reached them, they are busy finding a scapegoat.”