'Liquor was being smuggled from UP and Haryana': AAP reacts to CAG report

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report presented in the Delhi assembly sparked fresh war of words between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While AAP stood firm in support of the discontinued new liquor policy, the BJP asserted that the report demonstrated how AAP had deceived and defrauded Delhi residents.
Addressing a press conference soon after the CAG report was tabled in the Delhi assembly, Atishi said that liquor was brought illegally from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh under the old policy.
"The excise audit report was presented in the Delhi Assembly today. Its seven chapters are on the excise policy from 2017-21, and one chapter is on the new excise policy. The Delhi government had exposed the flaws and corruption of the old excise policy to the people of Delhi. Under that policy, liquor was brought illegally from Haryana and UP. We all know whose government is there in these states and who must be getting the profit," Atishi said.

Also read: 'Rs 2,000cr revenue loss due to liquor policy': Key findings of CAG report tabled in Delhi assembly
"This report is repeating the same thing that we said that the people of Delhi are incurring losses due to the old policy. This policy makes it clear that the AAP government took the right decision by removing the old policy," she added.
Atishi claimed that the report validates their stance on Delhi's losses under the old policy, justifying AAP's decision to discontinue it.
"This report has confirmed our point. There was corruption in how much liquor was being sold. This report shows that more than 28 percent of corruption was being done by the contractors, and the money was going into the pockets of the brokers," Atishi said.
"This report shows that black marketing of liquor was happening, and everyone knew which party people had the liquor contracts. The liquor contractors made profits by calculating the cost price in an incorrect manner," she added.
Bharatiya Janata Party criticised AAP, citing rule violations and revenue losses of approximately Rs 890 crore due to lack of re-tendering.
"The desire to engage in liquor brokerage was so strong in life that they disregarded numerous rules for it. I was reading that the lack of re-tendering resulted in a loss of approximately 890 crores. In all these matters, today Delhi is realising that this was the reason Arvind Kejriwal was trying to hide the CAG report, which led to a loss in Delhi's revenue," Tiwari said.
"The methods adopted for this show how notorious a criminal Arvind Kejriwal is. The commission rates of 5 percent and 12 percent, which initially benefited the government more, later started favoring liquor sellers. It needs to be understood. This is a new way of corruption in the country that has increased under Arvind Kejriwal, where they receive higher commissions. Because they have figured out how to take it back later, the entire crime investigation is ongoing. Wherever it goes, it will be discovered. But a person who was rumored to be an income tax officer seems to be a master at committing crimes. After that, there is a significant educational aspect," he added.
BJP Delhi chief Vijendra Sachdeva attacked AAP and said that the excise policy was the result of the corrupt collaboration between Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.
In a social media post on X, Sachdeva said, "The CAG report presented in the Delhi Assembly today has made it clear that the 'Liquor Policy' of the AAP government in Delhi was the result of the corrupt collaboration between Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia."
"They promoted monopolies, and only a few companies gained complete control over liquor supply; in return, what did Kejriwal and AAP get Indospirit, Mahadev Liquors, and Brindco captured 71% of the supply. The Cabinet process was violated, and major changes were made to the liquor policy without the approval of the Cabinet and the LG. Illegal liquor shops were opened, liquor vends were set up in residential areas without MCD-DDA approval, and MCD sealed 4 illegal shops," he added.
BJP minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also accused AAP government of keeping the CAG report hidden because it would have revealed the truth of the liquor scam.
"CAG report is a very important report. For the last three years, this report was kept hidden because it would have revealed the truth of the liquor scam. Arvind Kejriwal had looted Delhi with both hands till now, and then he said that there was no irregularity in it. When the report found these irregularities, he clarified them. In this report, firstly, Arvind Kejriwal increased the commission from five per cent to twelve per cent and said that a seven per cent commission is necessary because the liquor is tested properly," Sirsa said.
"Increasing commission by seven per cent in the name of testing is the biggest comedy to date...This came to light. Secondly, in a report, Arvind Kejriwal also gave the commission to his friends...Right now, there will be news of school scams, bus scams, and sheeshmal scams. Action will be taken on this. We will complain about this. We will also file a case. I can say that Arvind Kejriwal's fate will be solved in court and jail only," he added.
This comes after the Delhi government led by chief minister Rekha Gupta tabled the CAG report on the

Delhi Excise Policy

.
One of the 14 pending CAG reports on the previous Aam Aadmi Party government's performance, claimed that the now scrapped liquor policy caused a cumulative loss of Rs 2,002.68 crore to the government exchequer.
The report observed that the AAP government committed serious policy lapses, procedural violations, and ignored expert recommendations. It also accused former excise minister Manish Sisodia of "disregarding key suggestions" from an expert panel while formulating the now-scrapped liquor policy.