हिंदी
SAD urges Governor to recommend CBI and ED probes into the Punjab excise scam
(Sukhbir S Badal leads delegation to Governor, says CM violated provisions of the Official Secrecy Act and Prevention of Corruption Act)
(Gives details how liquor trade in Punjab was handed over to selected henchmen leading to kickbacks of hundreds of crores)
Chandigarh, August 31 –
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today urged the Punjab Governor to recommend institution of a CBI and ED probe into the excise scam of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the State asserting that the revamped excise policy of the State government was akin to the Delhi policy and that the same modus operandi was used to give control of the liquor trade to henchmen in return for kickbacks running into hundreds of crores.
A high level delegation of the SAD led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and handed over a memorandum stating that the chief minister and excise minister of Punjab had violated the provisions of the Official Secrecy Act by making official files of the State available to Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha besides private persons. It also listed that the Delhi chief secretary had in his report stated that the Delhi excise policy is a quid pro quo arrangement at the top level. It said since the Punjab policy was a copy of the Delhi one, the role of the Delhi deputy CM, Raghav Chadha and the Punjab Excise Minister, and other private persons should be probed. It said this case also fell within the purview of the Prevention of Corruption Act and a case should be registered in this regard also.
The SAD President apprised the Governor that like in the case of Delhi, the same set of conditions were introduced to oust Punjab liquor traders from the race by introducing a clause that the L-1 licensee should not be a manufacturer anywhere in India and abroad. “The new liquor policy also stipulated that L-1 licensees should have a turnover of at least Rs 30 crore per annum and that the licensees should not have a stake in the retail market in Punjab”, Mr Sukhbir Badal said adding the guaranteed profit margin was also increased from five per cent to ten per cent.
The delegation said accordingly 80 per cent of the liquor trade in the State was handed over to Brindco (Aman Dhall) and Anant Wines (Mehra family) even while wine contractors holding L-2 licenses were prohibited from participating in the allotment procedure of L-1 wholesale vends which was against the provisions of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, and Punjab Liquor License Rules, 1956.
The memorandum in this regard also apprised the Governor that the new excise policy was formulated by the Delhi Deputy CM and Raghav Chadha and that meetings in this regard were held in the fifth floor suite of the Hyatt Chandigarh hotel in which Raghav Chadha was residing as well as at Sisodia’s residence at Delhi on May 30. It said other participants in these meetings included Vijay Nair as well as the Punjab Finance Commission, Taxation and the Excise Commissioner. It also asserted that the final deal was also struck at Mr Sisodia’s residence on June 6.
The memorandum requested the Governor to order direct the probe agencies to preserve the CCTV videos of the locations where the meetings were held along with the mobile tower locations of all the persons who participated in the meetings so that they could be asked to relate what they were doing at that very point of time. It also requested that lie detector and narco-analysis tests be conducted of all the accused persons regarding the contents of the meetings and framing of the new excise policy.
Others accompanying the SAD president included senior leaders Balwinder Singh Bhundur, Anil Joshi and Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi. EOM
