On Friday (August 19) morning, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the residence of Manish Sisodia, who serves as the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi.
Besides Sisodia, the central agency conducted searches in the residence of 3 Aam Aadmi Party officials. CBI had raided more than 20 locations over allegations of corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022.
Excise policy case | Searches at seven states, including Delhi, at 21 locations. FIR named four public servants including Manish Sisodia: CBI official https://t.co/yMCWcbMbp7
— ANI (@ANI) August 19, 2022
While dismissing allegations levelled against him, Manish Sisodia claimed, “CBI had come to our house. They are welcome. We (he and his party leaders) are extremely honest. We are building the future of millions of children.”
He added, “It is very unfortunate that those who do good work in our country are harassed in this manner. That is why our country has not yet become number 1 in the world.”
सीबीआई आई है. उनका स्वागत है. हम कट्टर ईमानदार हैं . लाखों बच्चों का भविष्य बना रहे हैं.
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 19, 2022
बहुत ही दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है कि हमारे देश में जो अच्छा काम करता है उसे इसी तरह परेशान किया जाता है. इसीलिए हमारा देश अभी तक नम्बर-1 नहीं बन पाया.
Amidst the controversy, AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has announced that Manish Sisodia is the “best education minister of independent India.”
Delhi has made India proud. Delhi model is on the front page of the biggest newspaper of US. Manish Sisodia is the best education minister of independent India. pic.twitter.com/6erXmLB2be
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 19, 2022
Allegations of corruption against Manish Sisodia
At the heart of the controversy is the Delhi Excise Policy of 2021-2022. The now-scrapped liquor policy of the Delhi government was originally proposed in 2020. After coming into effect in November 2021, it changed the manner in which alcohol was sold in Delhi.
Until then, only government-owned liquor vendors were permitted to sell alcohol. The Delhi Excise Policy 2021-2022 introduced private players in the market. The National Capital was divided into 32 zones and a total of 27 private vendors were to ply in each zone.
Every municipal ward had 2-3 liquor vendors operating in the area. The private liquor shops were allowed to attract crowds by offering discounts on the Maximum Retail Price (MRP). They could deliver liquor at home, and even keep shops open till 3 am in the morning.
The drastic policy change resulted in a 27% increase in government revenue to ₹8900 crores. At the same time, it marked the complete exit of the Delhi government from the liquor business.
While the objective of Excise Policy 2021-2022 was to end black marketing and the liquor mafia, the AAP government soon came under fire over allegations of corruption. Naresh Kumar, who was appointed the Chief Secretary of Delhi in April 2022, found irregularities and procedural lapses in the new liquor policy.
The Chief Secretary prepared a report and sought the response of Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the head of the Excise Department. The report blamed the Deputy CM for making changes to the excise policy without the authorisation of the Lieutenant Governor and providing ‘undue benefits’ to the liquor vendors.
Manish Sisodia reportedly waived off ₹144.36 crores on the license fee, to be paid by the private liquor vendors, under the garb of the Coronavirus pandemic. He also caused loss to the Excise Department and benefitted liquor licensees by waiving the import pass fee of ₹50 per beer case.
All these changes were made without the final approval of the Lieutenant Governor and thus considered illegal under the Delhi Excise Rules of 2010 and Transaction of Business Rules of 1993. The CBI had therefore registered a case against Manish Sisodia.
