Excise Department cancels licences of two Jhajjar liquor vendors

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 1

The Excise Department has cancelled licences of two liquor vendors in Jhajjar, forfeited their security amount and suspended the authorisation of an L-1 licence after it was found that they were selling spurious alcohol. Holograms found on the bottles were found to be fake.

In another case, the department has recovered liquor from Fatehabad and sent samples of holograms of 500 cartons to the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), Hyderabad, for testing.

In both cases, the name of ADS Spirits Private Limited, a distillery based in Jhajjar district, has cropped up. The excise authorities say the police are probing its role.

Notably, the department had suspended the licence of the Jhajjar distillery in January 18 after it was found evading excise duty by using fake holograms on its bottles. The suspension, however, was revoked on March 9.

In his orders passed on Monday, Ashutosh Rajan, Collector (Excise)-cum-Joint Excise and Commissioner, cancelled the licences of main liquor vends (IMFL and country liquor) of L-1 owner Rakesh.

On May 14, the Chief Minister’s flying squad along with the excise staff from Jhajjar and Rohtak had found liquor vends open during the Covid-induced lockdown.

The team took 271 quarts, 42 pints and 26 nips of Moonwalk vodka into custody, as the brand, produced by ADS Spirits Private Limited, was not approved by the state government for the 2020-21 fiscal.

The holograms of Royal Green whisky, another brand of ADS Spirits, were seized and sent to the SPMCIL for testing. The lab report stated that all labels were fake.

A notice was served on the liquor vends, but none appeared before the authorities. An assistant excise officer from Jhajjar, who appeared before the Collector (Excise), said liquor was supplied by L-1 owner Rakesh and no passes or permits were issued for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the police on Monday recovered 500 cartons of IMFL from a canter from Fatehabad.

VK Shastri, Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Hisar, said that the samples of holograms of the seized bottles had been sent to the Hyderabad lab for testing.

Executives of ADS Spirits could not be contacted in spite of repeated attempts.

Fake holograms

• On May 14, the CM’s flying squad & excise staff from Jhajjar and Rohtak had found liquor vends open amid lockdown
• The team took 271 quarts, 42 pints and 26 nips of Moonwalk vodka into custody
• The holograms of Royal Green whisky were seized and sent to a Hyderabad lab for testing, which found the labels to be fake

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