The Excise Department was left red-faced when it uncovered a liquor licence scam meticulously engineered by an Upper Division Clerk. The staffer issued fake licences and renewals by issuing fake payment receipts at the Pernem Excise station and forging even the cash register. The fraud came to light when the department issued notices asking for payments from licensees only to learn that payments were already made.
Not only were licences and receipts issued, but even a duplicate stamp was made of a nationalised bank as a fake endorsement of payment. Initial estimates put the net receipts at Rs 2 crore, and there are indications that the forgery has been on since 2017.
It is a disgrace that the money of citizens has been swindled by the department’s staff forging a system. This incident and the many other cases of financial misappropriation detected in the past point to the failure of departmental checks. In this Pernem case, a single person engaging in such financial impropriety is difficult to comprehend. It could be that the department head does not want to invite more wrath, or the checks have gone amiss. For a person to bypass all systems and keep the fraud running for six years appears to be beyond fair reasoning. Also, are we to believe that there was no check on cash flows?
Whatever the truth behind the story, the way the Excise Department has reacted, raising suspicion. The UDC in question is discreetly transferred to Sattari, while the Commissioner is barely making a comment. Moreover, no action has been initiated, and the only instruction passed down is to try and recover the money.
Given the seriousness of the issue, there should have been an immediate suspension pending inquiry leading to dismissal from service. It is baffling why the department has not registered an FIR on the case, and it is even more surprising that the Excise Commissioner has not come on record as yet.
The liquor licence scam is not the first of its kind where staffers of departments have embezzled funds. Recently major irregularities were found in the cash book of the River Navigation Department, and Rs 11 lakh was missing. Subsequently, the official who was handling cash was suspended. There have been several cases such as these in the past, and every instance exposes the lack of checks and balances in departments.
Financial frauds within departments speak volumes of poor management. In the Pernem case, attempts are being made to shield the culprit raising questions about whether there were bigger fishes in this pond of corruption. The excise commissioner must answer how he is going to refund people’s money and what is action that he is going to initiate. Running away from the situation will not help because it will only muddy the reputation of the department and all associated with it, including the Commissioner himself. Culprits, especially those engaging in such criminal acts, cannot escape the law.
