The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday urged Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the alleged excise scam by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state.

A delegation of SAD led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Governor Banwarilal Purohit at Raj Bhavan here and handed over a memorandum to him, stating that the revamped excise policy of the AAP government was akin to the Delhi policy and that the same modus operandi was used to give control of the liquor trade to henchmen in return for kickbacks running into hundreds of crores.

The SAD alleged that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Excise Minister Harpal Singh Cheema had violated the provisions of the Official Secrecy Act by making official files of the state available to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha, besides private persons.

It also listed that the Delhi Chief Secretary had in his report stated that the Delhi Excise Policy is a quid pro quo arrangement at the top level. It said that since the Punjab policy was a copy of the Delhi one, the role of the Delhi Deputy CM, Raghav Chadha and the Punjab Excise Minister, and other private persons should be probed. It said that this case also fell within the purview of the Prevention of Corruption Act and a case should be registered in this regard also.

The SAD president said that like in the case of Delhi Excise Policy, the same set of conditions were introduced to oust Punjab liquor traders from the race by introducing a clause that L-1 licensee should not be a manufacturer anywhere in India and abroad.

“The new liquor policy also stipulated that L-1 licensees should have a turnover of at least Rs 30 crore per annum and that the licensees should not have a stake in the retail market in Punjab,” Sukhbir Badal said, adding the guaranteed profit margin was also increased from five per cent to ten per cent.

The delegation said that accordingly 80 per cent of the liquor trade in the state was handed over to Brindco (Aman Dhall) and Anant Wines (Mehra family) even while wine contractors holding L-2 licenses were prohibited from participating in the allotment procedure of L-1 wholesale vends which was against the provisions of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, and the Punjab Liquor License Rules, 1956.