Irregularities alleged in liquor auction

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">LUDHIANA: Former technical education minister and Kila Raipur MLA Jagdish Singh Garcha on Tuesday threatened to make irregularities in auction of liquor vends as an election issue besides moving the high court.<br /><br />In a news conference here, Garcha alleged that this was done at the behest of the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to cause business loss due to political vendetta.<br /><br />The government had earlier implicated him in two cases with this motive, he said. Garchas failed to retain its 2 per cent share held last year. <br /><br />He reiterated that they had assured the authorities in writing about 10 per cent increase over the last year which in the case of proper auction could have fetched about Rs 20 crore more as revenue. <br /><br />Fearing foul play, they had apprised the authorities including financial commissioner (taxation) and excise and taxation commissioner Punjab in writing about the offer, he claimed. <br /><br />The government sacrificed the interests of the state for personal interests, he said while citing the case of Haryana which registered big increase in the excise revenue.<br /><br /><formid=367815></formid=367815></div> </div>