Former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi has responded to the report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that was laid before the Delhi Assembly on February 25. She alleged that the report showed corruption of the old liquor policy (Liquor Policy Corruption) valid from 2017 to 2021. She accused that the residents of Delhi faced severe losses due to illegal importation from the neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Speaking at a press conference, Atishi stated, “The excise audit report presented today has seven chapters dedicated to the 2017-21 excise policy and only one chapter on the new policy. The Delhi government had already highlighted the flaws and corruption in the old policy. Liquor was illegally brought in from Haryana and UP, and we all know which parties govern those states and who all benefited from this.”
She focused on the fact that the new excise policy, introduced by the AAP government, was set to bring transparency and boost revenue. “The CAG report confirms what we have been saying: that the old policy caused losses to Delhi. It validates our decision to discard it,” she added.
The report also stated that around 28% of corruption was associated with liquor (Liquor Policy Corruption) contractors along with the profit channeled to brokers. Atishi highlighted that the corruption in liquor was not under control and that liquor contracts had been forcibly given to known affiliates of particular parties.
Meanwhile, the CAG report also said that the Delhi government losses were above Rs 2,000 crore during the 2021-22 excise policy. It was under the AAP of the implemented November 2021 policy, then withdrawn in September 2022, levying the charges of corruption, which the party denies.
The BJP criticized AAP, with Delhi BJP chief Virendraa Sachdeva accusing the party of scamming Delhi residents. He said, “This report exposes how AAP leaders like Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia looted the public and opened liquor shops (Liquor Policy Corruption) in very bad locations.”
Edited by Saumya
Also Read: https://theglobalic.com/2025/02/25/policy-failure-of-aap-in-cag-report-rekha-gupta/
