Delhi excise policy: Trouble mounts for Sisodia as L-G seeks report from chief secretary

Trouble mounted for Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena instructed the chief secretary to submit a report on the role of officers and civil servants in the alleged illegal formulation, amendments, and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2021-2022, shortly after recommending that the CBI conduct an investigation into the same.

The L-G has also stated that after the report is submitted and reviewed, the officers under whose supervision such violations and lapses occurred will face proper legal action, official sources told PTI. Adding further they said that the officers had a responsibility to draw attention to, flag, and notify the chief secretary or other appropriate authorities of any anomalies that occurred in the Delhi excise policy while they were in charge. 

It is more than evident from the records so far that certain officers enabled decisions that were wholly in violation of the Delhi Excise Act of 2009 and the Delhi Excise Rules of 2010, as well as the Transaction of Business Rules of 1993 and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act of 1991, sources told PTI. "They also prima facie acted as proactive conduits in formulating and implementing illegal orders, solely at the behest of the excise minister (Manish Sisodia)," sources said.

L-G recommends CBI probe in Delhi excise policy 2021-2022

Delhi L-G's recommendation for a CBI investigation was made after a report by the chief secretary, dated July 8, 2022, established serious lapses. Republic learnt that the decision with regards to the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 was taken by Manish Sisodia who also holds the Excise portfolio in the Delhi government, under Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Sources told the channel that in April 2021, Sisodia got the Cabinet to take a decision authorising him to make "minor changes within the overall framework of the policy in the interest of its implementation", a decision that was flagged negatively by the then Lieutenant General Anil Baijal. Thereafter, through a subsequent Cabinet decision, the earlier decision of 'authorising' Sisodia was withdrawn in May 2021; however, the decisions under question continued to be implemented by the Excise Department solely on the approval of Sisodia, sources said.

It is pertinent to mention that all the decisions were taken without the approval of the Competent Authority i.e. the Cabinet and subsequently the Lt. Governor, to provide post-tender ''undue benefits to liquor licensees'' under the excise policy.

Notably, AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal has defended Sisodia as a "dead honest" man and claimed that the deputy CM could be arrested in a "fake" case.