Patna,(BiharTimes): It is a classic case of old wine in new  bottle. After medicine scam the Bharatiya Janata Party has come up  with another scam. It involves the Excise Department and the  magnitude appears to be much larger. But the problem is once  again the same. 

This scam too might have its roots when 11 of BJP’s ministers  were holding powerful portfolios in the Nitish Kumar cabinet. But former deputy chief minister and finance minister Sushil  Kumar Modi reiterated that the scamsters funded the ruling  Janata Dal (United) for the Lok Sabha election under the  pressure of an Excise department official who was earlier  posted in the CM Secretariat when Nitish Kumar was the chief  minister.

Modi on Tuesday released a copy of an audit report of the  Accountant General of Bihar on allotment of excise licences. According to the report substandard liquor was supplied in  Kishanganj, Supaul and Begusarai districts as the state  excise department failed to ensure bottled supply from  authorized sources during the last six years. 

The BJP was sharing power in Bihar till June 16, 2013. At least 224 of the 1,940 samples of chemically examined  country-made liquor were found substandard. In the three  districts alone, 24 of 89 examined samples were found  substandard.

The report further said country-made liquor contents should be in accordance with the standards prescribed by the  Commissioner of Excise. The liquor kept for sale in godowns  should be analysed periodically and the licensee is supposed  to rectify deficiencies.

Sushil Modi alleged a scam of Rs 341.32 crore in allotment of  licences and said the state exchequer suffered a revenue loss  in granting of tenders for liquor supply in polythene  terephthalate (PET) bottles in Bihar between April 2014 and  March 2019. At present liquor is supplied in polythene bags  which cause adulteration. The government has decided to  supply country-made liquor in bottles in 17 excise zones of  the state.

SuMo said that non-adoption of the lowest rate by the state  Excise department for supply of liquor would lead to huge  loss of revenue during 2014-19.

He said that on January 31, 2014 the department had floated  notice inviting tender for manufacturing of country-made  liquor and its wholesale supply in PET bottles from April 1,  2014 to March 31, 2019 in 17 supply zones. It fixed rate for  200 ml bottles at Rs 5.78 per piece and 400 ml bottles at Rs  9.78 against which proposals of 17 bidders were approved at  12 differential rates starting from Rs 3.69 to Rs 4.66 for  each 200 ml bottles, he said.