NEW DELHI, 25 February (H.S.) : The newly formed Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Delhi on Tuesday presented the Comptroller

and Auditor General (CAG) report in the Delhi Assembly, which has exposed the

Delhi Liquor Policy. It is reported that this has caused a loss of Rs 2000

crore. Sources said, out of 14 reports, only 2-3 reports may be tabled

today.

The CAG report related to

liquor policy was presented in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday. It has been tabled

by CM Rekha Gupta. Speaker Vijendra Gupta said that the previous government had

suppressed the report and misconceptions were spread regarding the report. Violations

in the process of issuing licenses have also been identified in this report. It

has been told that the recommendations of an expert panel constituted to

suggest changes in the formulation of liquor policy were ignored by the then

Deputy CM and Excise Minister Manish Sisodia. According to the CAG report, the

Delhi government has suffered an overall loss of more than Rs 2,000 crore due

to the excise policy of 2021-2022. There are many reasons for this, from weak

policy framework to inadequate implementation.

The Speaker of the

Assembly said, it is surprising to know that the CAG report has not been

presented in the Assembly after 2017-18. In this regard, the then leader of the

opposition i.e. me and five other opposition leaders had requested the

President, Assembly Speaker, CM and Chief Secretary to submit a report. This

was very important to know the financial condition of the state. Unfortunately,

the CAG report was not presented and the previous government violated the

Constitution. The High Court had made very serious comments regarding the CAG

report. Carelessness was there in presenting it, the report was not sent to LG

in time.

CAG report says, a loss of

Rs 144 crore during Covid. The report claims a loss of revenue of Rs 941.53

crore. It said that timely permission was not taken to open liquor shops in

“non-conforming municipal wards”. Non-conforming areas are those areas which do

not confirm to the land use norms for opening liquor shops. The report

presented by the CM said, “The Excise Department has suffered a loss of

approximately Rs 890.15 crore in the form of license fees from these areas, because

this has happened due to surrender of these areas and failure of the department

to re-issue tender.' The report said that due to the closure related to the

Covid pandemic, there was a loss of revenue of Rs 144 crore due to irregular

grant exemption to the licensees.

Hindusthan Samachar / Meenakshi Bhattacharya