EMN
Dimapur, June 1
Reaffirming its stand that anomalies had taken place in the manner of destruction of the seized contraband drugs and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) on May 26 in the premises of the Excise’s Commissioner Office, Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) has sought judicial inquiry.
In a press release, ACAUT has reaffirmed its stand that anomalies had taken place in the manner of destruction of the said consignment of IMFL on May 26 that was unloaded from 4 vehicles in 7 trips from the Excise Malkhana to the Commissioner’s office. Official figures from the Commissioner of Excise stated that 4448 seized cases or 85,065 bottle/ cans of IMFL were suppose to be destroyed by the Excise Office on May 26. However, ACAUT stated that, on counting, the destroyed IMFL was only 2394 cases, which tantamount to only 53.82% of the total consignment. ACUAT claimed that 2054 cases of IMFL/Beer or 46.18% were missing.
ACAUT stated that if counting of the destroyed item were to be done by the number of bottles, the number of cases would perhaps reduced, since some of the cases were half empty with missing bottles of IMFL beer. ACAUT has sought answers on the number of cases which were transported in a small mini truck in 7 trips out of the total seizure.
The Excise Commissioner, in his statement on May 26 with regard to the transportation of the goods, had stated that the seized consignment of 4448 seized cases or 85,065 bottles were uploaded from the Excise Malkhana to the Commissioner’s office in four vehicles in seven trips.
In its release today, ACAUT also refuted the Excise Commissioner Maongwati Aier, claim that “there was no chance of pilferage as it was carried out under the watch of a transparent board of supervisors.”
ACAUT stated that the consignment, on physical counting, showed only 2394 cases out of the 4448 seized cases, which meant that 46.18 % of the IMFL was missing before destruction.
The ACAUT release also quoted from the office order of the Commissioner Excise No. EX-5/10/05 dated May 22, 2014, where he had clearly mentioned that representatives from NGOs are to be present during the process of destruction.
ACAUT has outrightly condemned the comments of the Commissioner of Excise as ‘unfortunate,’ who reportedly stated that it was not the ACAUT’s duty to count. To buttress it claim, ACAUT said it was acting under the directions of the court of law. It said the expressed view of the Commissioner contradicted to his stand on May 22, where he had clearly mentioned that representatives from NGOs are to be present during the process of destruction.
ACAUT stated that the counting was done in the presence of independent observers such as the media, NGOs representing Youth Association of Nagaland (YAN), Business Association of Nagas (BAN), Dimapur Urban Colony Council Chairman Federation (DUCCF), Dimapur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) and East Dimapur Business Association (EDBA).
Meanwhile, the release also added that the Superintendent of Excise, KY Sangtam’s statement does not refute the allegations of pilferage raised by ACAUT. It differed only in the number of missing cases.
While ACAUT stated that only 2394 out of 4448 cases were destroyed, the Superintendent states 3480 cases of IMFL were destroyed. It showed that as many as 968 cases were short of the total 4448 numbers seized.
In the light of the above massive pilferage done by the department, ACAUT has requested the District administration to immediately set up an independent judicial enquiry and simultaneously requested the State government to take cognizance of the matter and carry out necessary action, including suspension of erring officials, so that the judicial inquiry could maintain neutrality.
The press releases also expressed hope that NGOs and churches advocating a ‘dry state’ are noting the extreme serious nature of the expose. It felt that instead of making small time bootleggers the scapegoats under the Prohibition Act, the time has now come to learn for how long such pilferages had been continuing and debate the hypocrisy of the Prohibition Act in the state.
