Mohan Singh Bisht elected as Deputy Speaker of Delhi Assembly.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Speaker Vijender Gupta on Thursday said in the Delhi Assembly that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the previous AAP government’s now-scrapped excise policy has been referred to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for examination.

The CAG report, which was tabled in the House on February 25, stated that “poor implementation of the policy led to a loss of over ₹2,000 crore to the exchequer”. “The report has brought out in detail how the public exchequer incurred huge losses so that private firms could profit illegally at the expense of the government,” Mr. Gupta said.

The CAG report will be examined in detail by the PAC, which will submit its report within three months, the Speaker said.

According to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the PAC will be formed in the third week of March after the budget presentation.

While discussing the findings of the report, Vishwas Nagar MLA and BJP member O.P. Sharma alleged that AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had acted in an “inhuman manner”. “Kejriwal was working on the policy during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was no certainty of life,” he said.

‘Endangered lives’

Mr. Sharma said the policy “endangered the life of those living in JJ clusters” as liquor shops were not allowed to open in these areas fearing overconsumption, leading to a “rise in demand for illicit liquor”.

Shakurbasti MLA Karnail Singh claimed that “several people died” due to over-consumption as liquor was “easily available”.

Responding to the allegations, AAP legislator Amanatullah Khan said if his party “was allowed to implement the policy properly”, the loss would not have occurred.

Mr. Khan highlighted that the CAG report mentions “loss, not a scam”. He said the BJP by using the cover of the CAG report was indulging in “character assassination” of his party’s government in the debate on the policy.

After being denied entry to the Assembly premises on Thursday, Leader of the Opposition Atishi and 20 other AAP legislators staged a dharna outside the House. They were suspended for disrupting Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena’s inaugural address to the House on Tuesday. 

In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Ms. Atishi said, “The BJP government in Delhi has removed the pictures of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh from various offices of the Delhi government.”

Meanwhile, the BJP  shared purported photos of Ms. Gupta’s office, where the portraits of the two national icons are displayed on the walls.

Earlier in the day, six-time BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.