Karnataka Excise Minister R.B. Timmapur is facing serious allegations of corruption, as wine merchants have accused him of taking huge bribes for transfer of department officials and renewal and transfer of liquor shop licences. The Federation of Wine Merchants Association, Karnataka, has threatened to shut down all liquor shops in the state in protest against the rampant corruption in the excise department, on November 20.
S. Guruswamy, president of the association, said, “We have decided to shut shop on November 20 if the chief minister fails to replace the excise minister and end the corruption. We will also petition the governor and the CBI.”
He said that since the excise minister took bribes, the other officials felt emboldened to followed suit.
“Any new DC, superintendent or deputy superintendent who is posted in our region tells us he has given a hefty bribe of Rs 2 crore to the minister for the plum posting. The excise officials ask us for assistance to make up for the money lost as bribe,” Guruswamy said.
“If we don’t pay the bribe, we are harassed by officials who inspect our stocks and licence and raise issues, slap cases and impose a penalty of Rs 50,000. The monthly ‘hafta’ is fixed for each shop (around Rs 8,000 per shop) and takes Rs 1 lakh for every renewal, and shifting (relocation) of the shop could cost anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. Even the request for a name change (of the licensee) would leave you poorer by Rs 5 lakh. The transfer of licence to a family member following the licensee’s demise also costs huge money,” he said, adding that the wine merchants cannot survive if the corruption was not plugged immediately as most of them had debts of around Rs 3-4 crore.
Meanwhile, a letter reportedly written by an RTI activist Ajith to the chief minister and the governor, has alleged that Minister Timmapur is pocketing Rs 180 crore to Rs 200 crore annually for transfer of officers across grades, and extorting another Rs 180 crore (Rs 15 crore every month) from wine merchants as “monthly money”(hafta) besides the huge bribes taken for sanctioning the liquor licences. The association has urged CM Siddaramaiah to replace the minister.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok, in a social media post, claimed that the wine merchants’ association had alleged that CL7 bar licences were given for a bribe of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 70 lakh. “In the last one year, at least 1,000 such illegal licenses have been issued by the excise minister, which amounts to Rs 300-700 crore,” said Ashok, adding that liquor scam was the latest entrant to the long list of scams by the Siddaramaiah government—from Valmiki corporation scam, MUDA, KIADB to Waqf land scam.
In 2022-23, the state had 12,614 licenced liquor outlets, including 3,988 retail wine shops (CL2), 277 clubs (CL4), 82 star hotels (6A), 2,279 hotels and boarding houses (CL7), 66 military canteen (CL8), 3,626 bar and restaurant (CL9), 1,023 MSIL shops (11C), 730 retail vendor of beer, 192 wine taverns, 97 wine boutiques, 68 micro-breweries and 32 others. The CM, during a review meeting held recently, set a target of Rs 38,525 crore for excise tax collection in 2024-25.
The wine merchants feel that extortion and harassment by the excise officials would soon force them to shut shop.
Timmapur, who denied all charges, said the aggrieved persons were free to complain against the erring officials. “I wonder why they would bribe officials. The wine merchants need to bring it to my notice and I will initiate action against any official who demands a bribe. All are routine transfers and renewal of licence. Some persons making allegations do not prove that I am corrupt or guilty,” the minister said.