Ahmedabad liquor permit row: Rs 25,000 extra paid to agents to bypass renewal checks
In Ahmedabad, liquor permit holders reportedly paid agents an extra Rs 25,000 to renew their permits without undergoing mandatory procedures, including medical examination, documents from 2023 show.
Gujarat has prohibition laws in place, but the Prohibition and Excise Department issues liquor permits to people with specific health-related requirements based on doctors’ recommendations and prescribed medical procedures.
Depending on the applicant’s requirement, permits can be issued for one to three years and have to be renewed after the validity period expires.
However, documents relating to some permit renewals carried out in Ahmedabad in 2023 have raised questions over the process. According to the documents, more than 30 liquor permits were renewed after applicants reportedly paid agents an amount of around Rs 25,000 over and above the prescribed expenses.
In some of these cases, the applications did not carry the signatures of the actual permit holders. Instead, agents or other persons associated with the applicants had signed the forms. The applicants were subsequently called by the Prohibition Department, where their signatures and statements were recorded before the permits were renewed.
Ahmedabad Prohibition Department Superintendent Sagar Mangarolia told Aaj Tak that in 2023, officials had found cases where the signatures of the main applicants were missing from renewal applications or where applications had been submitted by someone other than the permit holder.
Mangarolia said the applicants were called to the department after the issue came to light. Their signatures were obtained and their statements were recorded in person, after which the permits were renewed. He added that no legal action was initiated against anyone in those cases.
According to Mangarolia, the procedure has since been changed. He said the applicant’s presence is now mandatory during the renewal process, and signatures are taken in person. Documents submitted by applicants are also verified. The entire process has been moved online to make it more transparent.
Copies of some 2023 renewal applications also show that applicants were asked to submit self-declaration forms when their applications carried signatures other than their own. In their declarations, some applicants stated that their agents had signed the forms, while others said an employee at the agent’s office had signed on their behalf.WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL PERMIT COST?
Under the prescribed fee structure, an applicant has to pay Rs 2,000 as processing fees, Rs 2,000 as medical fees and Rs 2,000 as license fees. For a fresh permit, Rs 25,000 is also deposited with the Rogi Kalyan Board, while the corresponding amount for renewal is Rs 15,000.
This puts the approximate official cost of a fresh permit at Rs 31,000 and renewal at Rs 21,000.
The reported payment of an additional Rs 25,000 to agents for permit renewal therefore raises questions about how applicants were able to avoid prescribed procedures, including medical examination and application formalities.
While the Prohibition Department has since made changes to the renewal process, the documents from 2023 have raised questions about the role of agents and the officials involved in processing such applications at the time.- Ends
