VIJAYAWADA: The State government has issued a Standard Operating Procedure for the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), constituted to curb illicit distillation and smuggling of alcohol, to dispose of the contraband seized by it.The SEB has filed a large number of cases and seized 2.8 lakh litres of illegal liquor. The AP Excise Act, 1968 and AP Prohibition Act, 1995, provides option for disposing of the seized contraband by way of confiscation to the State or by public auction or by destruction.
According to the AP Excise Act, the contraband, which cannot be preserved or not fit for human consumption, can be destroyed. Similarly, the Act also has a provision to confiscate the contraband or the seized property to be sold by public auction or dispose of departmentally.
In a GO issued by ex-officio principal secretary to government and DGP D Gautam Sawang, the Commissioner, SEB, stated that as per AP Excise (Disposal of Confiscated and Other Articles) Rules, 1969, the destruction of the liquor is not the first choice. “The destruction of such property may lead to huge loss to the State and wastage of resource as it is government property after confiscation. In the past too, the seized contraband have been auctioned which helped in reducing the wastage of resources and added value to the State exchequer,’’ the GO said.