According to sources, Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena has suspended 11 officials, including former Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and deputy excise commissioner Anand Kumar Tiwari, for ‘serious lapses’ in the implementation of the Excise Policy, 2021-22. According to sources in the L-office, G’s three ad hoc DANICS officers and six officials from the Delhi government’s excise department have also been suspended.
According to the L-G, the decision was made due to ‘serious lapses on the part of the officers concerned’ in the implementation of the excise policy, including ‘irregularities in finalizing the tender and extending post-tender benefits’ to select vendors. Saxena took the action in response to an inquiry report filed by the Directorate of Vigilance.
The L-G has already recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation into alleged rule violations and procedural lapses in the implementation of the Excise Policy, 2021-22. Private firms were issued retail licenses for 849 liquor vends across the city, divided into 32 zones, under the policy, which went into effect on November 17, 2021. The policy has now been withdrawn by the AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal.
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