Sukhbir Badal alleges a ‘Rs 500 crore excise scam’ in Punjab similar to Delhi

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, the SAD president said, “There should be a free and fair inquiry against all political leaders, including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, as well as Punjab government officials who facilitated the scam.”

Asserting that the AAP had followed the Delhi model while framing the Punjab excise policy, Badal said “like in the state of Delhi, nearly the entire liquor trade was handed over to two companies”.

He added, “The profit margin of the two companies has doubled to facilitate a quid pro quo. Hundreds of crores have been passed back to the AAP government in Punjab and the AAP high command in Delhi”.

The SAD chief said, “While framing the new excise policy, the Punjab government had followed its AAP counterparts in Delhi. It stipulated that each liquor manufacturing company could choose one licencee to sell its products in the state and that the L-1 licencee should not be a manufacturer in India or abroad. It [the policy] also stated that L 1 licencees should have a turnover of least Rs 30 crore per annum and should not have any stake in the retail market in Punjab, thereby taking liquor traders from Punjab out of the race”.

He added, “In the case of Punjab, the profit margin of the licencee doubled from the earlier five per cent to ten per cent”.

“The policy resulted in the handover of nearly the entire liquor trade to two companies – Brindco owned by Aman Dhall, and Anant Wines, which was owned by the Mehra group,” Badal further alleged.

The SAD chief said MP Raghav Chadha spearheaded meetings with members of the two groups in a suite on the fifth floor of Chandigarh’s Hyatt hotel. “Two meetings were held at Sisodia’s residence on May 30 and June 6 which were attended by Punjab government officers, including the financial commissioner and excise commissioner,” he said.

“The names of the private players who were called to fix the deals were kept a secret with Sisodia, who referred to them as Mr Mango and Mr Cucumber during the meeting with Punjab government officials”.

Asserting that twin CBI and ED probes could only reveal the truth in the case, Sukhbir said, “The movements of accused leaders and officers should be checked as well as CCTV cameras at prescribed locations be examined.”

“The kickbacks received due to doubling of the profit margin from five per cent to ten per cent should also be probed. The kickbacks received from the liquor cartel in Delhi were used to contest the Punjab elections by AAP,” he claimed.

Badal further said, “Now when an FIR has been registered in the Delhi excise scam, the same should be done in case of Punjab also. The policy and policy makers are the same. The modus operandi to loot the state exchequer is the same.”