CAG Report: Delhi Govt Incurs ₹2000 Crore Loss Following Implementation of Liquor Policy

The Delhi government incurred a loss of ₹2,000 crore due to implementation of 2021-2022 excise policy, a CAG report tabled in the assembly said. The Rekha Gupta-led government highlighted violations in the scheme in the process of issuing licences. The government also pointed out that the then deputy chief minister and excise minister Manish Sisodia ignored the recommendations of the expert panel.

The report on the alleged liquor scam claimed a revenue loss of ₹941.53 crore by stating that timely permissions were not taken for opening the liquor vends in “non-conforming municipal wards.”

The report, tabled by the chief minister added, “The excise department suffered a loss of approximately ₹890.15 crore on account of license fee from these zones owing to their surrender and failure of the department in re-tendering.”

There was a loss of ₹144 crore due to “irregular grant” of waiver to the licensees because of Covid pandemic related closure, the report said.

Notably, Master Plan Delhi-2021 mandated prohibition of liquor vends in non-conforming areas, but the Excise Policy 2021-22 mandated the opening of at least two retail vends in each ward.

The irregularities in the implementation of policy has caused a political uproar between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after Lt Governor V K Saxena recommended a CBI probe in July 2022. Several leaders including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh have spent months behind the bars after probing agencies arrested them in the case.