Chaos outside liquor shops as Delhi govt to shutting of private liquor shops
NEW DELHI : Days after the Lieutenant Governor recommended a CBI probe into the implementation of the new excise policy, the Delhi government took a U-turn and decided to go back to the old regime of retail liquor sales in the city.
At the same time, Sisodia defended the government’s new liquor policy and said that the policy was meant to curb corruption. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday said that the Aam Aadmi Party’s old liquor sale policy will be back in force from August 1.
With all privately-owned wine and beer outlets shutting shop owing to the withdrawal of Delhi government’s Excise Policy 2021-22, the capital is likely staring at a major liquor shortage in the coming days. The AAP government is now reportedly considering a one-month extension for the new excise policy.
A Delhi government source told agencies late on Saturday that to avert chaos due to shutting of private liquor shops and because government vends would need time to reopen fully, a proposal is likely to be presented before the Delhi Cabinet for a month’s extension to the 2021-22 policy soon.
Days after the Lieutenant Governor recommended a CBI probe into the implementation of the new excise policy, the Delhi government took a U-turn and decided to go back to the old regime of retail liquor sales in the city.At the same time, Sisodia defended the government’s new liquor policy and said that the policy was meant to curb corruption.
Only government-run liquor vends will be allowed to sell alcohol in the city from August 1 with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government deciding not to extend the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 beyond July 31. The policy was extended twice in the new fiscal due to delay in the roll-out of the 2022-23 version.
While Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia did not give a date by which government vends would reopen for the public. This could leave consumers high and dry during the first few days of August.
A file noting dated Thursday states the same, but the return to the “old regime” excludes private vendors, leaving many private liquor vendors bracing for huge losses.“We will shut shop tomorrow. When we applied for a licence to sell liquor, we hoped to renew it after July 31.
Iported alcohol at half price, bottles flying off the shelves and long queues these were the scenes outside liquor stores in Delhi following Deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s announcement Saturday that the AAP government’s Excise Policy 2021Saturday’s announcement comes close to a week after Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy, putting Mr. Sisodia, who also heads the Excise Department, directly in the line of fire.
