Liquor Scam: EOW-ACB files chargesheet against 29 excise officials in Raipur special court
Raipur: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) have filed a chargesheet against 29 excise officials in the ongoing Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The case, registered under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), and Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, was submitted to the Special Court (Anti-Corruption) in Raipur.
The officials named in the chargesheet are Janardan Kaurav, Animesh Netam, Vijay Sen Sharma, Arvind Kumar Patle, Pramod Kumar Netam, Ramkrishna Mishra, Vikas Kumar Goswami, Iqbal Khan, Nitin Khanduja, Naveen Pratap Singh Tomar, Manjushree Kaser, Sourabh Bakshi, Dinkar Wasnik, Mohit Kumar Jaiswal, Neetu Notani, Garibpal Singh Dardi, Nohar Singh Thakur, Sonal Netam, Prakash Pal, Alekh Ram Siddar, Ashish Kosam, A K Singh, Rajesh Jaiswal, J R Mandavi, G S Nuruti, Devlal Vaidya, A K Anant, Vedram Lehre, and L L Dhruv.
These officials served as District Excise Officers or held other positions in 15 major districts across Chhattisgarh between 2019 and 2023. Bastar and Surguja divisions were excluded from the investigation. These districts were chosen due to their high consumption of country liquor.
The scam involved the illegal sale of unaccounted, non-duty paid liquor, known as “B-part liquor”, alongside legitimate liquor in government-run shops. Investigations show an excise syndicate directed distilleries to produce additional liquor. This liquor was then directly transported via trucks to selected high-selling country liquor shops in the identified districts. It was sold without any government duty or tax, in parallel with legal liquor supplied from distilleries to warehouses and government depots.
A large number of individuals participated in the scam, including shop salesmen, supervisors, lower-level excise department officials, shop in-charge officers, and district in-charge excise officers. The money collected from the sale of B-part liquor was managed separately and delivered to syndicate members under the control of district in-charge excise officers.
Based on statements from approximately 200 individuals and digital evidence, it is estimated that around 60,50,950 cases of country liquor, valued at an estimated Rs 2,174 crore, were sold illegally through government liquor shops with the complicity of the accused officials. A portion of these proceeds was distributed among the district-level officials, employees, shop salesmen, and supervisors.
Earlier estimates put the scam at around Rs 2,161 crore, including all types of commissions and the sale of non-duty paid additional country liquor in shops. However, the new investigation indicates the total amount of the scam is likely to exceed Rs 3,200 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate and the Anti-Corruption Bureau are separately conducting a detailed analysis of the commission collected by the syndicate on foreign liquor. Thirteen individuals have been arrested in connection with the excise scam, including Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arunpati Tripathi, Kawasi Lakhma, and Vijay Bhatia. Investigations in the case are ongoing.
