- LATEST
- WEBSTORY
- TRENDING
INDIA
With Delhi Excise Policy case under CBI lens, Centre suspends top bureaucrats in liquor row
The Delhi liquor policy has been under the scrutiny of the CBI for a few days now, with top officials and politicians on its radar in the case.
Updated : Aug 23, 2022, 01:25 PM IST | Edited by : Vaishnawi Sinha
 "With Delhi Excise Policy case under CBI lens, Centre suspends top bureaucrats in liquor row")
TRENDING NOW
The Delhi liquor policy row has caused AAP and BJP to remain in a tussle with each other, with central agencies launching investigations against the Delhi government in the controversial excise policy that was launched by AAP in 2021.
In the midst of the Delhi excise policy investigation being headed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Union Home Ministry has taken the call to suspend two top bureaucrats in the national capital in relation to the now rolled-back excise policy.
As per the order of the central government of India, the then Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari stand suspended just days after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena gave his nod to the move.
The Delhi LG had ordered a strict probe into the Delhi excise policy implemented by the AAP government, opening an investigation against 11 top officials in the national capital due to “serious lapses” in the new liquor distribution ruled set by the Aam Aadmi Party administration.
Just as the tussle between AAP and opposition BJP continues in Delhi, VK Saxena has approved the suspension of 11 officials in the national capital, including Krishna and Tiwari. Both the officers held key positions in the Delhi administration.
While IAS officer Krishna was the former Excise Commissioner of Delhi when the liquor policy was initially implemented in 2021, Tiwari was a Delhi, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) officer who serves as the Deputy Commissioner under AAP leader Manish Sisodia.
The other officers who stand suspended on the order of the Delhi LG include Assistant Commissioners Pankaj Bhatnagar, Narinder Singh, Neeraj Gupta, Section Officers Kuljeet Singh, Subhash Ranjan, and Suman and Dealing Hands Satya Brat Bhargav, Sachin Solanki and Gaurav Mann.
Meanwhile following the lead of the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also launched a probe in the Delhi liquor policy row in the capital, investigating the money laundering aspect of the case, with AAP standing firm on its stance on not having any foul play involved in the policy.
