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Probe Punjab liquor policy: Bathinda MP Harsimrat urges Amit Shah
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday also forwarded two memorandums by SAD to the Punjab governor as well as the report of the cabinet subcommittee, which virtually repudiated the 2022-23 excise policy.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MP from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday urged the Union home minister Amit Shah to order a probe by CBI and ED into an alleged liquor scam in Punjab, asserting that it has caused a loss of hundreds of crores to the state exchequer.
She also forwarded two memorandums by SAD to the Punjab governor as well as the report of the cabinet subcommittee, which virtually repudiated the 2022-23 excise policy.
Shah had, during a discussion in parliament, asked Harsimrat to submit a detailed representation after she raised the issue of alleged corruption in the excise policy.
Writing to the home minister, she said, “The SAD feels the objective of the Punjab excise policy was the same as the Delhi one – to hand over the entire wholesale liquor trade to a few companies (in this case two) besides doubling their profit margins. The purported aim was to facilitate a quid pro quo under which there are allegations that hundreds of crores were passed back to the AAP government in Punjab and the AAP high command in Delhi”.
She said since this was a matter of public importance it was imperative to identify the loot of the Punjab exchequer and ensure punishment of those guilty of the same.
Giving details from the memorandums submitted by the SAD, Harsimrat said a SAD delegation headed by the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal had approached the Punjab governor on August 31, 2022, and urged him to order an investigation into the Punjab excise policy.
The SAD had appealed to the governor to take action under Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
