The then-excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and deputy commissioner Anand Tiwari were suspended on Monday by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), following the CBI investigation into alleged anomalies in Delhi’s excise policy between 2021 and 2022.
The suspension comes days after Delhi Lt. Governor VK Saxena approved it and started disciplinary proceedings against 11 excise department officers for “severe violations” related to the Delhi Excise Policy 2021–22.
The scam’s CBI FIR
Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, is one of the 15 people named in the CBI FIR that was filed in relation to the alleged irregularities in the excise policy that went into effect in November of last year.
According to the FIR, Sisodia, Krishna, Tiwari, and other individuals played a key role in making recommendations and choices on the excise policy for the years 2021–2022, “without the approval of competent authorities with an aim to offer undue favours to the licencees post tender.”
The investigation agency searched Sisodia’s home and many other places on Friday in connection with the matter, sparking a heated exchange of words between the AAP-led Delhi government and the investigation agency. The AAP said that the Narendra Modi-led Union government is utilising the federal agencies because it is terrified of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s rising popularity for his effective leadership. The raids had been going on for a number of hours.
The CBI FIR also names assistant excise commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar, 10 liquor licence holders, their accomplices, and unidentified people in the case based on a referral from the MHA.
