The Delhi High Court on Monday pulled up the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over its delayed response to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on "liquorgate" that allegedly observed several irregularities in excise policy and its implementation. The High Court said that the government “dragged its feet to avoid Assembly session taking place".
“Timeline is stark, you’ve dragged your feet to avoid the session from happening," the High Court told the Delhi government. “Time taken to send reports to LG, the way you’ve been dragging your feet raises doubt about your bona fide," the court added.
The court said that the Delhi government should have been prompt in sending the report to the Speaker of the Assembly.
Responding to the High Court’s observations, the Delhi government questioned how session could be held when elections are around the corner.
What Did The CAG Report Say?
The CAG said in its report put out on Saturday last week that there were several “lapses" in the now-scrapped excise policy and claimed Rs 2,026 crore loss to the exchequer.
The report further claimed that some bidders were running in losses, yet given licenses by the then-Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi.
The CAG report underlined significant lapses in the implementation of the policy, that led to a loss of approximately Rs 2,026 crores to the government. It said that the residents of the city bore the cost while the AAP leaders “got kickbacks".
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The report claimed that Manish Sisodia, who then led the excise department, and his group of ministers “ignored" the recommendations of the expert panel. It said that many key decisions were taken arbitrarily without the approval of the cabinet or the Delhi LG.