‘When Delhi needed medicines and oxygen, Kejriwal took Rs 2,000 crore commission’: Kapil Mishra slams AAP over CAG report on liquor policy | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: BJP leader Kapil Mishra on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on former Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal over the recently tabled Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, alleging that the AAP government indulged in large-scale corruption during the Covid-19 period.
Mishra claimed that Kejriwal and his former deputy deputy chief Manish Sisodia received Rs 2,000 crore as commission from the excise policy while the national capital was in dire need of medicines and oxygen.
While talking to the media on Tuesday, Kapil Mishra said, “As more and more (CAG) reports come out, they have run away from Vidhan Sabha, soon they will flee from Delhi too. Arvind Kejriwal cannot face the truth mentioned in the CAG report, which states that during the Covid period, he received Rs 2,000 crore as commission from liquor. When there was a need for medicines and oxygen in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were busy in corruption in the liquor policy.”
CAG flags Rs 2,000 crore
The CAG report, tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday by chief minister Rekha Gupta, highlighted that the AAP government’s now-withdrawn Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 caused a revenue loss of over Rs 2,000 crore.
The policy, which came under scrutiny for allegedly favouring private players and facilitating monopolisation, was rolled back within nine months following a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe initiated in July 2022.
According to the report, the excise department claimed a revenue loss of Rs 941.53 crore due to the failure to obtain timely permissions for opening liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards.
Another Rs 890.15 crore was lost in licence fees after 19 zonal licensees surrendered their permits prematurely, but re-tendering was not carried out. Additionally, Rs 144 crore was lost due to “irregular waiver” granted to licensees for the closure of shops between December 28, 2021, and January 27, 2022, during Covid-related restrictions. The report also noted a shortfall of Rs 27 crore in the security deposit collected from zonal licensees
Excise policy favoured monopolies, alleges CAG
The report criticised key modifications made by the Group of Ministers (GoM), led by then deputy CM Manish Sisodia, which allegedly deviated from the expert committee’s recommendations. The new excise policy permitted private wholesalers to dominate the liquor trade, introduced a one-time bidding system instead of a lottery-based allocation of vends, and allowed individual licensees to control up to 54 vends, raising concerns over cartelisation.
CAG flagged that just three distributors controlled over 71% of Delhi’s total liquor supply chain, effectively deciding which brands would thrive in the market. It stated that 25 out of 367 registered Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands accounted for nearly 70% of total liquor sales, suggesting cartel formation.
Lack of regulatory oversight in liquor supply chain
The report further revealed that despite a mandate for setting up quality control laboratories, the excise department issued related guidelines only a week before the policy rollout.
Even after granting multiple extensions, laboratories were set up in only 19 out of 62 warehouses, and batch testing did not commence in most of them. Additionally, no evidence was found of special teams being formed to inspect samples from bonded warehouses, retail vends, hotels, clubs, and restaurants.
CAG stated that fundamental changes in Delhi’s excise policy related to levy and collection of excise duty, liquor supply chain administration, and retail operations were inconsistent with its stated objectives and expert committee recommendations. The auditor concluded that accountability must be fixed for the lapses and that enforcement mechanisms need to be strengthened.
