Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Excise Minister M. Liju on Tuesday expressed strong displeasure over the grant of bar licences by officials without informing the government, and said the Excise Commissioner should have informed the government before granting them. Liju has sought an explanation from the Commissioner over the decision, news agency IANS reported.
Source: IANS via The Freedom Press
The controversy concerns two FL-7 licences granted on June 22 for the domestic lounge at Cochin International Airport. According to the minister, the licences were issued even though the government had made it clear that such permissions should be considered only after the new liquor policy was finalised, and the government had returned the file with instructions to wait for the new policy. The Commissioner, he said, went ahead with the clearances under the existing rules, and might not have been fully familiar with the government's position during his initial days in office.
Minister blames 2017 'loopholes', promises a procedure change
Liju said the present rules allow officials at lower levels to take licensing decisions without informing the government, and that these provisions were introduced by the previous LDF government and need to be reviewed. The Hindu reported on Monday that procedures to grant bar licences are likely to change, with the minister saying loopholes in the previous government's 2017 order — which enabled Deputy Excise Commissioners to approve applications for upgrading beer and wine parlours into bars — were misused by some excise officers.
Source: The Hindu via Scoop
Taking aim at his predecessor M. B. Rajesh, Liju said he was unhappy with the former minister's approach to liquor licensing. In remarks reported by IANS, he said: 'Rajesh was satisfied when liquor flowed across the state. I am not.' He added that strict action had been taken when corruption allegations surfaced, but that the wider issue of expanding bar licences also needed serious examination. These are the minister's allegations against the previous government; the LDF's response was not part of the reports.
The government will issue a formal order making it mandatory to wait for the new liquor policy before granting licences of this kind, and legal advice is being sought on the licences already issued, the minister said.
The row follows the earlier suspension of two Deputy Excise Commissioners over the conversion of three beer and wine parlours in Muvattupuzha, Kochi and Pala into full-fledged bars, where the government said it found lapses. The suspended officials subsequently approached the tribunal, where details relating to the airport lounge licences also came to light. What happens next turns on the Commissioner's explanation, the legal advice on the two airport licences, and the formal order the minister has promised.