Kalvakuntla Kavitha: ED officials have arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC Kavitha. It was announced that she was arrested as she was also an accused in the liquor scam. So what is this liquor scam? What does a former chief minister's daughter have to do with this scandal? Who are the accused in this?
This is the real reason
In 2021, the Delhi government introduced a new liquor policy. There are allegations of irregularities in the procedure. The Delhi government has changed its previous policy of handing over the sale of liquor to private companies. A new approach has been brought to the fore. There are criticisms that the policy has led to scandal. In this background, the political leaders involved in this scam were arrested. MLC Kavitha also joined this list. ED officials arrested Kavitha after searching her house for more than four hours on Friday.
That's how it started
Earlier, an expert committee was appointed by the Delhi government regarding liquor shops in Delhi. Later, a three-member committee was appointed under the supervision of Delhi Excise Commissioner. Again a committee of three ministers was appointed to study the recommendations given by them. Later, according to the instructions given by them, the Delhi government decided to hand over the retail liquor shops, which were under government rule for a long time, to private individuals. According to it, the government expects to increase revenue by 9,500 crores by allotting liquor shops to private individuals. And the new liquor policy was sent to the lieutenant governor and got his seal of approval. However, the Lt. Governor has imposed a condition that the permission of the Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Municipal Corporation is required for the newly established liquor shops. The government agreed to it. As many as 849 shops have opened in Delhi under the new excise policy. And through the new liquor policy, private traders have acted at will in terms of prices. Shops were kept open till three in the morning. In the end, home delivery of liquor was also relaxed.
With his arrival..
In the month of April 2022, a person named Naresh Kumar was appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Delhi. All this Bagotam came to light after a thorough study of the Liquor Policy. He noted that there were irregularities in the liquor policy and mistakes were made in the allocation of liquor shops. Based on the report given by the Chief Secretary, the Lieutenant Governor ordered a CBI inquiry in July of the same year. At the time when the Chief Secretary's report was being prepared, the Delhi government announced that it was canceling the liquor policy. However, it is noteworthy that the Delhi government is supporting that the revenue is not increasing as much as they expected, and that is why the policy has been cancelled. On the other hand, as the revenue for the first quarter was almost 35% lower than the budget estimates, the allegations that something is going on behind the scenes have gained strength. On the other hand, criticism was heard that the allotment of liquor shops was arbitrary. A CBI investigation has revealed that Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who decided to change the liquor policy, caused a loss of Rs 145 crore to the government. Moreover, the government has waived off 145 crores of work due to liquor traders in the name of Covid. The government waived the import duty payable on each case of beer. There are allegations of taking bribes in the issue of L-1 category licenses. CBI has found that a liquor dealer gave Rs. CBI found that bribes were paid by issuing credit notes to retail traders. The CBI officials identified Manish Sisodia's followers Dinesh Arora, Amit Arora and Arjun Pandey as playing a key role in this scam.
