Excise officials helping select few, alleges wine contractor

A Batala-based wine contractor who also has business interests in Amritsar district claimed that officials of the Excise Department have joined hands with local contractors to push him out of business.

Ashwani Kumar, partner of RK Enterprises, said out of 12 retail circles in Amritsar, eight were being controlled by a single cartel.

Ashwani manager, Rahul Bhalla, held a press conference today claiming that the cartel controlled the entire business in the area.

He said nearly 40 shops of his group were forcibly closed recently because his firm did not obey the orders of the Amritsar cartel.

“In an attempt to throw other firms out of business, the cartel was forcing competing groups to sell liquor above the minimum retail price (MRP), which is an illegal practice. Those who refuse to comply are facing threats of closure and are also being harassed,” he said.

He added that frivolous notices were being issued to him allegedly at the insistence of the Amritsar group. “Some entities, which are proxies of the cartel, are filing regular complaints against me,” he added.

He said the excise policy was being subverted to favour a select few. “Wine contractors are being harassed without any rhyme or reason,” he said.

He appealed to the state government to look into matter and stop the illegal practice of selling wine above the MRP.

ETO Manish Goyal said there were orders from the department to close the shops and that “we had only ensured that compliance was made”.