Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan on Saturday said the Government had not accorded sanction to any private firm to start a new liquor making unit or brewery in Kerala.
He told journalists here that Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala’s allegation that there was corruption in a non-existent deal had no merit. The Governor and the High Court had also found no value in the Opposition's claims, he added.
An Excise official said four liquor companies had applied for sanction to start distilleries and a brewery in Kerala in 2017-18. However, a Government Order issued in 1999 disallowing new liquor making units in Kerala units posed a hurdle. Hence, the Excise department had recommended to the Government that it could consider such applications only after amending the rule, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.
Moreover, the Excise Commissionerate had sought detailed reports from four deputy excise commissioners about the applications submitted by the firms. It had also asked the supervisory officers to verify whether the companies had got a clearance certificate from 12 Government agencies, including the Ground Water Department and the Pollution Control Board. They were preliminary steps, not anything final.
Returning the loot did not absolve a thief of his crime: Chennithala
The Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala countered the claim by stating in an anti-corruption court here on Saturday that “returning the loot did not absolve a thief of his or her crime”. The Government had retreated from the move after he exposed the corrupt bid. The court should prosecute the attempt by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Excise Minister T. P. Ramakrishnan to gain illegal gratification by allotting liquor manufacturing licenses to select firms in a secretive and underhand fashion.
