CAG Report Unveils Rs 2,000 Crore Loss in Delhi Excise Policy

Delhi's BJP-led government presented a CAG report scrutinizing the Excise Policy, revealing significant financial discrepancies. The audit covers 2017-2021, highlighting a Rs 2,000 crore loss and irregularities in liquor regulation. Tensions rose as BJP accused AAP of obstructing proceedings, claiming they fear the report's ramifications.

The Delhi BJP government, under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, presented the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the Delhi Excise Policy in the Assembly on Tuesday. Titled 'Performance Audit on Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi,' the report spans four years from 2017 to 2021 and investigates the regulation and supply of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and foreign liquor in the capital.

Upon presentation, BJP leaders accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of attempting to derail the Assembly proceedings, citing the opposition's fear of the report's implications. BJP figure Arvinder Singh Lovely stated, 'They tried to disrupt the session by demanding the report's tabling. The Speaker had to eject them. We wished for a dialogue, but they are avoiding the CAG report, fearing jail time, using Babasaheb's principles as camouflage.'

BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar also criticized AAP for compromising democratic values, alleging that it manipulated the situation to dodge accountability. 'AAP has defied Babasaheb's philosophy and created chaos to evade responsibility. Only one of the 14 volumes of the report has been tabled,' Mahawar remarked. The report is among 14 pending CAG evaluations on AAP's prior governance efforts.

The audit unveiled several irregularities in the Excise Department's oversight and regulation of Delhi's liquor supply chain, leading to a projected Rs 2,026.91 crore loss, mainly tied to the 2021-2022 excise policy. The Department's failure to implement Rule 35 of the Delhi Excise Rules, 2010—prohibiting multiple licenses to related parties—resulted in overlapping directorship across different license types.