Manish Sisodia was detained on suspicion of giving liquor vend licensees improper perks in place of “kickbacks” and “commissions,” which the AAP reportedly employed in the Punjab Assembly elections in February 2022.
The now-scrapped booze sales policy in the nation’s capital has once again come under the limelight with the arrest of Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, on Sunday. The excise department in Delhi, which is currently under attack, is led by Sisodia.
After almost eight hours of questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation, he was taken into custody on Sunday (CBI). Sisodia was questioned on a variety of excise policy issues, including his claimed connections to Dinesh Arora and other defendants included in the FIR and specifics of message exchanges from many phones.
The CBI authorities said that the arrest was made as a result of the Deputy CM’s refusal to comply with their investigation and avoid providing the details they requested.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, immediately declared, “He is innocent…this is filthy politics,” following Sisodia’s detention. He wrote in a tweet that “there is a lot of resentment among the people owing to Manish’s detention. Everyone is looking. Everything is being understood by people.
Saurabh Bharadwaj, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator, added, “The CBI is fully acting under the direction of the center. Manish Sisodia will be arrested, that much was certain.
The series of events that led to Sisodia’s detention by the CBI started in July 2022, when Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar sent a report to Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena accusing Sisodia of giving unauthorized benefits to liquor vend licensees in place of “kickbacks” and “commissions,” which were allegedly used by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Punjab Assembly elections that February.
What did the CBI claim about the Delhi excise policy after Manish Sisodia’s arrest?
In an FIR filed in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy 2021–2022, the CBI listed 15 people, with Sisodia at the head of the list. Sisodia, then-Delhi Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna, and two other senior excise department officials were allegedly “instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to excise policy for the year 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favors to the licensee post tender,” according to allegations in a memorandum released by the office of the L-G.
Amandeep Dhal, the owner of Brind co Spirits, Sameer Mahendru, the owner of Indo spirit, and Vijay Nair, the former CEO of entertainment and event management business Only Much Louder, were each charged with actively participating in irregularities in the creation and implementation of the excise policy.
Certain L-1 license holders, according to the FIR, “are giving credit notes to retail vendors with an ab initio aim to channel the money as an unfair financial benefit to public servants, showing fake entries in their books of accounts to maintain their record straight.”
In conjunction with the investigation, the CBI conducted a raid on Sisodia’s home in August 2022.
What led to the involvement of the Delhi Police EOW?
The updated alcohol regulations included various revisions to the previous regulations, such as permitting licensees to give limitless discounts and allowing home delivery of alcohol. On May 2, 2022, a group of ministers (GOM) in the Delhi cabinet suggested these amendments.
But before the policy could be put into effect, Chief Secretary Kumar, who was appointed in April of this year, had to review it. After reviewing the proposal, Kumar outlined “procedural breaches” and anomalies in the proposed policy.
On July 8, 2022, Kumar wrote Sisodia, the chief of the excise department, a report requesting an answer to his inquiries. On the same day, copies of the report were also submitted to L-G Saxena and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The chief secretary also requested that the EOW conduct an investigation into the suspected illegalities, cartelization, and monopolies in the liquor industry.
What was revealed by the EOW investigation?
The Excise Department had meetings during a 15-day period in July 2022, including one on the evening of July 11–12 that apparently lasted until five in the morning, according to digital video recordings (DVRs) gathered by the EOW.
The EOW sent an official notice to the assistant commissioner of the excise department requesting information on the purported illegal issuance of liquor licenses to businesses that had disregarded the new excise policy’s terms and conditions. The Delhi Excise Policy 2021–22’s formulation date and the date when bids for the issuance of liquor licenses under the new policy were floated were among the papers and information that were also requested.
All successful applicants who got liquor licenses were requested by the EOW to supply their application forms and any supporting documentation they had provided. Moreover, it demanded that the department outline the steps it had taken to stop the monopolization and cartelization of the liquor industry.
What was the report of the chief secretary?
Sisodia reportedly changed the excise policy without the L-consent, G’s enabling a remission of Rs 144.36 crore on the surrendered license fee, for example, according to the report sent to the L-G and CM.
According to officials, if any modifications are made to an existing policy, the excise department must present them to the cabinet before sending them to the L-G for final approval. The Delhi Excise Rules, 2010, and the Transaction of Business Regulations, 1993 are broken if any amendments are made without the consent of the cabinet and L-G.
According to the study, Sisodia increased the prices of imported alcohol and eliminated the 50 rupee import permit charge for each case of beer, giving liquor license holders unfair advantages. According to the study, this resulted in cheaper imported alcoholic beverages and beer at retail, which caused the state exchequer to lose money.
According to officials, if any modifications are made to an existing policy, the excise department must present them to the cabinet before sending them to the L-G for final approval. The Delhi Excise Rules, 2010, and the Transaction of Business Regulations, 1993 are broken if any amendments are made without the consent of the cabinet and L-G.
According to the study, Sisodia increased the prices of imported alcohol and eliminated the 50 rupee import permit charge for each case of beer, giving liquor license holders unfair advantages. According to the study, this resulted in cheaper imported alcoholic beverages and beer at retail, which caused the state exchequer to lose money.
What was the investigation’s central question about Delhi’s alcohol policy?
It was proposed in 2020, and it became law in November 2021. Each of Delhi’s 32 zones had 27 alcohol vending machines. It signaled the end of the government’s involvement in the sale of alcohol; afterward, only privately owned liquor stores would operate in the city, with 2-3 stores per municipal ward. Its objectives were to eradicate the liquor mafia and black marketing, boost sales, enhance customer satisfaction, and guarantee a fair distribution of liquor vends.
The government also relaxed the requirements for licensees, enabling businesses to sell at their own pricing and give discounts rather than the MRP established by the government. Vendors then started to offer discounts, drawing large crowds. After opposition objections, the excise agency temporarily stopped offering the reductions.