Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has ordered registration of an FIR against IAS officer Amarnath Talwade for allegedly demanding money from liquor vendors at the “behest” of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the year 2015-16. Saxena also recommended disciplinary action against Talwade, who is currently posted in Arunachal Pradesh, with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, as per a communiqué issued by the LG office on Friday. Now, the AAP government which is facing serious corruption charges in the Delhi Excise Policy Scam, is in for fresh troubles with an IAS officer found “pressurizing a subordinate officer into collecting money from retail liquor vendors” at the behest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“The present case pertains to the year 2015-16 when Talwade during his stint as Senior General Manager of Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (DSCSC) had pressurised the then Manager of DSCSC PK Shahi (now retired) to collect more money from vendors by threatening him of transfer. The action came after an audio clip of the two officers’ telephonic conversation surfaced which was later authenticated by the FSL as genuine and undoctored,” it said.
In the audio clip, “Talwade admitted to have received Rs five lakh from Shahi soon after he took charge of DSCSC”, the LG office said. Talwade was posted in DSCSC from January 12, 2015 to April 29,2016, it said.
“In the audio recording, Talwade is heard demanding 35 per cent (of the total collection) which he has committed to Kejriwal. To this, Shahi tells Talwade that he could arrange only 15 per cent due to two consecutive ‘dry months’, where collection was almost nil,” it added.
According to the LG office, a complaint in this regard was filed by a Noida resident on March 21,2023 along with a pen drive containing the audio clip to the DoV (Directorate of Vigilance). The complainant alleged that the conversation between an IAS officer and an Inspector pertained to “sharing of booty” in some excise matters. After preliminary investigation, the DoV ascertained that the said IAS officer was Amarnath Talwade and the other subordinate officer was PK Shahi.
On the directions of the Chief Secretary, the DoV sent the audio clip to FSL Delhi, which on November 28, 2023, submitted its examination report, saying “there was no indication of any form of alteration in audio recording”, it said.
The LG office said the matter was referred to the Law Department, GNCTD which opined that it was a fit case for registration of FIR, as the information provided by the source was not “vague or cryptic or lacked essential details” and the information related to “commission of a cognizable offence”.
Subsequently, the DoV proposed the matter to be referred to ACB (Anti Corruption Branch) for registration of FIR and appropriate disciplinary action against Talwade, and submitted the proposal for LG’s approval, it said.
The LG, while according his approval, expressed displeasure over delay in the case despite clinching evidence against the officer in the form of audio recording, it added.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Kejriwal skipped the fourth summon issued by the ED to appear before it in the liquor policy case.
“The matter has once again exposed the deep rooted nexus of AAP government in Delhi with liquor vendors/mafia, after the liquor scam in Delhi in connection of which former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh are already in Jail while CM Kejriwal is facing repeated ED summons. The Supreme Court, too, has found substantial money trail, while denying bail to Sisodia in the case,” it said.