PUDUCHERRY: AIADMK Legislative party leader A Anbazhagan on Saturday urged Lt Governor Kiran Bedi to order a CBI probe into the alleged fixing of fake holograms on liquor bottles by distilleries.
Anbazhagan, in his memorandum to Bedi, stated that the Excise Department in 2006 had introduced the system of fixing holograms on liquor bottles manufactured in distilleries and imported from outside, to eliminate the evasion of duty by distillery owners. The hologram is a testimony to the originality of the liquor and a proof that the liquor bottle has been levied duty by the government.
However, over the last few years, due to lack of supervision and alleged collusion of excise officials posted in distilleries, a lot of discrepancies have been occurring in the manufacturing units. One such case is the detection of fake holograms in a private distillery. Anbazhagan claimed that this resulted in evasion of duty to the tune of around Rs 500 crore. This is just the tip of the iceberg, he said, adding that thorough inspection of all distillery units will reveal more information.
He said a CB-CID inquiry may not be enough, a CBI probe has to be ordered to bring out the truth and to gauge the extent of loss to the government.