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Time of India
01-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Allocation of retail liquor stores in a week: Excise dept
1 2 Ranchi: The state excise department is set to initiate the lottery process for the allocation of retail liquor shops across the state within a week, marking a key step in the implementation of the new liquor policy, a senior excise department official said on Friday. The department has been preparing to roll out the new excise policy, Jharkhand Excise (Settlement and Operation of Shops for Retail Sale of Liquor) Rules, 2025, from Sept 1, paving the way for the retail sale of liquor in Jharkhand by private players. The new move was a shift from the arrangement which had been in effect since 2019, whereby the Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited (JSBCL) controlled retail liquor sales in the state. "In May this year, the state cabinet approved the policy, following a proposal from the department's side. While the wholesale liquor sales are still controlled by the state-run JSBCL and the retail ones will be operated by private players. To allocate the shops to the private players, the department will hold a lottery among them. The process for applying to the lottery process will start soon, possibly within a week. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Bulk buying rush at Mannings! 40+ men hair changed KAMINOWA Learn More Undo Following the completion of the process, the shops will be handed over to private parties," an excise official told TOI, seeking anonymity. The excise department in July started the process of taking over 1,453 liquor shops in the state by the JSBCL from private agencies after completion of the latter's contract period. A total of 1,343 shops have been finalised for lottery. "The number of retail liquor shops came down from 1,453 to 1,343 as some retail country liquor shops have been merged with IMFL shops, making them composite liquor shops," the official said.
India Today
18-07-2025
- India Today
Lid blows off excise scam in Jharkhand: What's brewing?
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated July 28, 2025)On June 17, when the Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested former IAS officer Amit Prakash, he joined the ignominious ranks of two others who were arrested the previous month: serving IAS officer Vinay Kumar Choubey and former excise commissioner Gajendra Singh. All are now cooling their heels in judicial custody. So, what's brewing? A full-blown excise scam—vatfuls of it, in fact. And net losses are pegged at Rs 38 who retired last December after serving as excise commissioner and managing director of the Jharkhand State Beverage Corporation Ltd (JSBCL), stands accused of authorising payments totalling approximately Rs 11 crore to two liquor wholesalers, despite directives to withhold those funds. But the ramifications extend far beyond all began to unfold through murmurings of a similar scam in neighbouring Chhattisgarh in 2024. In Jharkhand, it first came to light in May, when the ACB apprehended Choubey—once a key aide to chief minister Hemant Soren—on charges of causing massive financial losses to the exchequer. Since then, it has escalated into what seems a multi-layered case of systemic corruption. At its core lies a nexus of bureaucrats, businessmen and excise officials who allegedly manipulated policies and institutional blind spots to run an illegal liquor syndicate spanning state borders. With 10 arrests so far, including those of private operators and a hologram supplier, and amid calls for a CBI inquiry by the Opposition BJP, the racket marks a pivotal moment for public surround the 2022-23 excise policy—specifically, the appointment of placement agencies in contravention of norms. Allegations include rigged tenders, fake bank guarantees, sale of unaccounted domestic and foreign liquor via duplicate holograms and the generation of illicit commissions. DUBIOUS OPERATORSTwo agencies are central to the probe: Vision Hospitality Services & Consultants Pvt. Ltd and Marshan Innovative Security Services Pvt. Ltd. Empanelled by the excise department in June 2023, they were tasked with operating retail liquor outlets across several districts. In January 2025, when Vision Hospitality failed to remit proceeds from three districts, the department initiated action to invoke the bank guarantee of Rs 5.35 crore. But a delayed follow-up and verification in March by JSBCL revealed the documents to be fabricated. According to ACB findings, Vision Hospitality's bank guarantee submitted in August 2023 was counterfeit. Even its December 2023 replacement guarantee was Innovative, awarded the Dhanbad zone contract in November 2023, followed an almost identical trajectory. When its defaults persisted into January 2025 and JSBCL decided to invoke the bank guarantee of Rs 5.02 crore, Marshan approached the Jharkhand High Court to block the move. A verification in March confirmed that the document was forged—a replacement, too, reportedly appeared to be just an email notices brought to light financial discrepancies, leading to the ACB probe. Investigators say that Vision Hospitality owed Rs 12.98 crore, while Marshan's dues totalled Rs 25.47 ACB alleges a coordinated effort between placement agencies and excise officials in Ranchi to suppress defaults and obfuscate liabilities. Excise officials reportedly brazenly disregarded RBI-mandated SFMS (Structured Financial Messaging System) protocols for bank guarantee verification. Investigators say Choubey played a central role in this premeditated dereliction. Internal audit mechanisms remained conspicuously dormant. Compliance officers raised no red flags. Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi claims he exposed flaws as early as April 2022. 'This scam did not simply happen; it was orchestrated. Those at the top were complicit,' he PLOT?What makes the Jharkhand scam more concerning is its apparent cross-border blueprint. A parallel probe in Chhattisgarh uncovered an eerily similar racket, involving forged tenders, counterfeit holograms and the 'privatisation' of liquor profits in the name of reform. There, too, officials, wholesalers and placement agencies allegedly worked in concert. The Enforcement Directorate had raided Choubey in October 2024 as part of a money-laundering probe linked to Chhattisgarh. It cited a September 2024 FIR by the Chhattisgarh ACB, naming Choubey, which said Jharkhand's 2022 excise policy was crafted to benefit private dogged Jharkhand's excise policy almost since its inception, with accusations of procedural violations and backroom deals. The current ACB and ED probes reveal how placement agencies siphoned off vast sums by selling unaccounted liquor, distributing duplicate holograms and funnelling off foreign liquor May, following public outrage and mounting evidence, the Jharkhand cabinet scrapped the policy. Retail sales were reverted to private players through a lottery system, while JSBCL retained control of wholesale operations. The move was framed as a corrective measure to stem revenue losses and mitigate operational to India Today Magazine- Ends
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Pvt players to run liquor stores in state from Sept 1
1 2 Ranchi: Retail India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor shops in Ranchi and across the state will be operated by private players from September 1 as per the new excise policy, the state excise and prohibitions department said on Friday. However, the wholesale liquor sales are still controlled by the state-run Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited (JSBCL), it added. The state cabinet had approved the Jharkhand Excise (Settlement and Operation of Shops for Retail Sale of Liquor) Rules, 2025, in May this year. The new move was a shift from the earlier arrangement which had been in effect since 2019, during which the JSBCL controlled retail liquor sales in the state. Excise commissioner Ravi Shankar Shukla said the new rules were notified on May 21. Though the rollout was slated in June, administrative and logistic hurdles pushed the deadline to September, excise department sources said. "According to the new rules, several steps must be followed before the implementation, which include issuing tenders to rope in private players, providing a window for at least 15 days to the new shops for preparation, and developing software for holding a lottery among the bidders through an online medium. The lottery process will start either by the end of July or in the beginning of August," sources said. The department last week started the handover-cum-takeover process of over 1,453 liquor shops in the state from placement agencies after completion of the latter's contract period. By Thursday, 90% of the process was completed. Now, JSBCL will run the liquor shops across the state till August 31 as a measure to fulfil the liquor demand in the state. Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, general secretary of the Jharkhand Sharab Vyapari Sangh, welcomed the move. "Following the implementation of the new policy, the govt will receive advance revenue, which will contribute to strengthening the state's exchequer," he claimed.
Indian Express
18-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Another ex-IAS officer arrested in Jharkhand liquor ‘scam' case
The Jharkhand Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested retired IAS officer and former excise commissioner Amit Prakash in connection with its investigation into the Jharkhand liquor scam Tuesday — its sixth arrest in the case. Prakash, who was produced before an ACB court Tuesday and was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody, served as the managing director of the Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited (JSBCL) and retired from service on December 31, 2024. He is the second IAS officer to be arrested in the case after former principal secretary and ex-JSBCL Managing Director Vinay Kumar Choubey. This comes after the ACB had arrested Vinay Kumar Choubey and Joint Commissioner of Excise Gajendra Singh on May 20 after the agency registered an FIR alleging irregularities in awarding contracts to placement agencies using fake bank guarantees. The FIR claims that the exchequer suffered a loss of Rs 38 crore due to the alleged fraud. According to the ACB, Prakash, as excise commissioner, had the authority to encash bank guarantees from placement agencies to recover dues for JSBCL but took no action. He was allegedly evasive during questioning. On May 21 – a day after Choubey's arrest — three others, JSBCL's former General Manager (Finance) Sudhir Kumar Das, former GM (Finance and Operations) Sudhir Kumar, and Neeraj Kumar Singh, a local representative of the placement agency Marshan, were arrested in the case. According to the ACB, in November 2024, Prakash authorised payments of over Rs 11 crore to two liquor supply companies from Chhattisgarh Dishita Ventures and Om Sai Beverages without informing the excise minister. The payments, for dues pending since 2022, were allegedly made despite four Chhattisgarh-based placement agencies – which ACB claims are part of the same syndicate — being blacklisted and owing nearly Rs 450 crore to the Jharkhand government. The state has approached the Supreme Court to recover the amount. The ACB claims these payments were cleared just a month before Prakash's retirement. DGP Anurag Gupta – chief of the Jharkhand ACB – did not respond to calls and texts for a comment. Meanwhile, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded the CBI's intervention in the matter, claiming that they warned the public and the state government about the scam in 2022. Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India. Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn ... Read More
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Time of India
Liquor scam: 2 JSBCL officers sent to jail, Choubey admitted in Rims
1 2 Ranchi: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday produced two top officials of the Jharkhand State Beverage Corporation (JSBCL) and an employee of a firm, providing manpower to run liquor shops, before the special ACB court in connection with the alleged multi-crore Jharkhand liquor scam. An IAS officer and an excise department officer were already arrested in connection with the scam, amounting to Rs 38.44 crore. Both the JSBCL officials general manager (finance) Sudhir Kumar Das and general manager (operations-cum-finance) Sudhir Kumar, along with the local representative of M/s Marshan Innovative Security Service Ltd, identified as Neeraj Kumar, were forwarded to jail under judicial custody till June 3 by the special court. The trio were arrested earlier on Wednesday. Amlan Palit, an advocate appearing on behalf of accused Neeraj, said, "Acting on the plea submitted by me about the ill health of my client, the court ordered that medical facilities should be provided to him." Earlier on Tuesday, Vinay Choubey (IAS) and joint commissioner of the excise department, Gajendra Singh, were arrested in connection with the scam. On Thursday, the jail administration shifted Choubey to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) in accordance with court orders, which asked for proper medical care, including treatment by Rims doctors, of the arrested officer, who is unwell. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Scalable retail: Video analytics firm enables more traffic thanks to robust computing power - Google Cloud: Future of Infrastructure CIO | Google Cloud, AMD Undo In its FIR, the ACB said two companies, namely Vision Hospitality and Marshan Securities, were empanelled as placement agencies for running liquor shops in the state by providing fake bank guarantees. The FIR also alleged that Choubey was the key accused in the alleged scam. According to the ACB, the tender conditions stipulate that the minimum guaranteed revenue would be assessed monthly and any shortfall in collection would be compensated through the bank guarantee, but not a single penny was recovered through the bank guarantees. The bureau's FIR also mentioned that the state govt issued a demand note to the companies when the revenue collection fell short by Rs 200 crore, adding that it failed to get the money through the bank guarantees. The ACB added that the two officials did not try to get the bank guarantees verified either through the structured financial management system or the physical mode.
