Sisodia raids departmental stores storing excess alcohol

New Delhi

New Delhi

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Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday led teams that raided departmental stores across the city and ordered sealing of two of them for allegedly storing excess amount of alcohol, violating the permissible limit under excise norms, the Delhi government said.

On Monday, the Delhi government’s excise department conducted raids in several departmental stores in neighbourhoods that include Karol Bagh, Azadpur, Jahangirpuri, Dwarka, Kailash Colony, Janakpuri and Govindpuri Extension. Sisodia, who holds the excise portfolio, led some of the raids, the government said.

“According to law, a departmental store with the particular licence can hold 15% of beer and wine, but it has to have 85% of other inventory. These two departmental stores [the ones that were sealed] were defaulting, apart from a few varieties of soft drinks and snacks, 80-90% of the stock was of wine and beer,” Sisodia said.

He said, “This is completely in violation of the law. They were running wine & beer shops in the name of departmental stores. Delhi has 125 departmental stores which have a licence to keep 15% of wine and beer. The highest limit of refrigeration allowed in such stores is of 300 litres (sic).”