Extend Delhi excise scam probe to Punjab: Akali Dal

Chandigarh, Feb 27 (IANS) Former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday demanded a CBI inquiry into the Delhi excise scam be extended to Punjab, saying Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was also the architect of the state excise policy which had caused losses of hundreds of crores to the exchequer.

Addressing the media here, Majithia said: "The actors and directors of the Punjab excise policy are the same as in case of Delhi. As in the case of Delhi, the CBI should probe the role of senior officers and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) politicians who had colluded to give huge benefits to select liquor manufacturers like Deep Malhotra at the cost of the state exchequer."

He said a separate Enforcement Directorate inquiry should also be conducted to go into assertions of money laundering.

Asserting large-scale corruption in the Punjab excise policy, Majithia said like in the case of Delhi, the entire liquor trade had been handed over to two companies and their profit margin had been doubled to facilitate a quid pro quo.

"Hundreds of crores have been passed back to the AAP government in Punjab and the AAP high command in Delhi. It is this ill-gotten money from the liquor as well as the sand mining mafia which is being used by AAP to fulfill Arvind Kejriwal's national electoral dreams."

He said this was the reason why the Delhi Chief Minister had publicly stated that the same policy which had been disallowed in Delhi was doing "wonders" in Punjab.

Asking AAP not to adopt double standards on corruption, Majithia said: "AAP considers corruption done by its leaders as good corruption but if done by anyone else, it becomes bad corruption."

He said Kejriwal had also become adept at issuing character certificates be it in the case of his minister Satyendar Jain who was accused of accepting bribes from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar as Jails Minister or in the latest case of his Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

"Why doesn't Mr. Kejriwal let the investigating agencies and the courts do their jobs? Why is he coming in the way of the judicial process by sponsoring protests to defend corruption? It is obvious he feels the trail may lead to him," he added.