SAD chief alleges ‘scam’ in Punjab’s excise policy seeks questioning of CM Mann

PTI, Apr 16, 2023, 8:46 PM IST

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal (Source: PTI / File)

Jalandhar: SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday alleged a “scam” in the Punjab government’s excise policy, seeking that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann be questioned in the matter like his counterpart in Delhi.

He alleged that the Punjab excise policy had been “patterned” on the Delhi excise policy.

“Just like in the Delhi policy, the AAP government in Punjab created a monopoly in the liquor trade by handing over the entire business to a few contractors,” Badal said.

“While the scam had been exposed in Delhi, the AAP continued to loot the public exchequer in Punjab as it had extended the excise policy by another year,” he further alleged in a statement issued here.

Badal said only a CBI inquiry and a thorough questioning of the Punjab chief minister can “unmask this scam”.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI on Sunday in the excise policy case, amid protests by his party as the AAP chief accused the agency of acting at the behest of the BJP.

In a five-minute video message on Twitter before arriving at the heavily fortified headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation at around 11 am, Kejriwal claimed that the BJP might have ordered the agency to arrest him.

AAP leader Manish Sisodia was arrested on February 26 after nearly eight hours of questioning in the case.