Akali MLA’s son pays fine for stocking liquor illegally

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, May 26

The Excise and Taxation Department has collected a fine of Rs 1 lakh from the liquor firm of Gaurav Malhotra, son of SAD MLA from Faridkot Deep Malhotra, for stocking country-made liquor illegally here in a godown.

The godown was sealed on Saturday following a complaint about the illegal sale of liquor. Excise sleuths conducted a raid in the godown and found 337 boxes of country-made liquor illegally stocked there. The stock was seized and action initiated against the firm owners.

Inderjit Singh, ETO (Excise), Muktsar, said, “The department had slapped a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on the liquor firm. It has been paid and the permission to open the godown and resume business has been given to them. The stock of 337 boxes of liquor is still in our possession for further investigation.”

Meanwhile, a liquor contractor alleged that rules had been bent for the ruling party politician. “Usually, the excise department imposes a huge penalty for such an offence. For example, a liquor firm in Ludhiana recently had to pay a huge penalty, but in this case, rules have been bent,” he alleged.

Courtesy: The Tribune