New Delhi, Feb 25: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday, revealed that the now-scrapped liquor policy, formulated during the AAP government, resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 2,000 crore to the exchequer.

The CAG report was tabled by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on the second day of the Assembly session, amidst sloganeering by the ‘unrelenting’ AAP members, who were suspended for the day.

The CAG findings on the ‘performance audit report on regulation and supply of liquor in Delhi’ have put the previous AAP dispensation in the dock as it flags a series of financial irregularities and wrongdoings in the excise policy.

The damning documents, which the IANS is in possession of, come as an indictment of the previous dispensation and reveal how the protocols were violated and due procedure overlooked for 'benefiting' a section of people, closer to power.

According to CAG findings, there was gross license violation during the formulation of the liquor policy and the margin for wholesalers was also increased at the cost of ‘dipping government revenues'. It also holds the AAP government culpable of bypassing expert recommendations and not maintaining transparency in allotting liquor licenses to bidders.

Some of CAG's findings are below:

* Failure of implementation of Rule 35 of Delhi Excise Rules 2010, which prohibits the issuance of multiple licenses of different categories. Licenses were issued without ensuring solvency, submission of audited financial statements and verification of criminal antecedents.

*The increase in wholesaler margin from 5 per cent to 12 per cent led to a rise in their profit margin but a drop in government revenues

*Lack of transparency and fairness in the entire procedure. As the policy allowed the single applicant to operate up to 54 liquor vends, this allowed cartelization.

*The Expert Committee recommendations were disregarded during the drafting of the 2021-22 excise policy

*Exemptions and relaxations in the policy were allowed without the Delhi Cabinet's approval or L-G’s clearance. This was a gross violation of the legal procedure

*Liquor vends were approved in residential areas, without approval from the MCD or DDA

*Weak enforcement of smuggling by the Excise Intelligence Bureau. No action was taken against smuggling, despite seizures of illegal consignment, thus hinting at negligence/collusion.

--IANS

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