Punjab govt fudged excise figures: SAD

A day after the Punjab Excise Department claimed a “marked increase” in revenue in the past three years, the SAD on Saturday accused the state government of “fudging figures”.

“Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is lying to people and fudging figures to show an increase in revenue,” SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged here.

He claimed that the Congress-led government had caused consistent losses to the exchequer as far as liquor tax collections were concerned for the past three years.

The Shiromani Akali Dal leader alleged that some Congress leaders were running illegal distilleries and involved in bootlegging.

A Rs 2,000-crore liquor scam, along with a revenue loss of Rs 3,600 crore, has taken place under the current regime, Majithia alleged, seeking an independent inquiry into the issue.

Referring to the recent showdown between some Punjab ministers and the chief secretary, Majithia said it showed how the chief minister and his colleagues had taken an opposite stand on the issue.

The Excise and Taxation department on Friday had said revenue receipts had shown a “marked increase” since the Amarinder Singh government came to power in 2017.

It had stressed that it has not incurred any losses in the financial year 2019-20, except those resulting from the COVID-related lockdown.

The department's statement had come after 10 Congress legislators and a Rajya Sabha MP on Wednesday demanded a probe against Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, blaming him for the revenue loss.

The crisis was triggered by a showdown between two ministers and the chief secretary at a meeting.

Later, Karan Avtar Singh was relieved of the additional charge of the Financial Commissioner, Taxation.