Keralam Excise Commissioner Sambasiva Rao removed amid bar licence row

Excise Commissioner Seeram Sambasiva Rao was removed from the post on Friday amid the simmering row over granting of bar licences. He will continue as Special Secretary of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Department, a post allotted to him in the recent IAS reshuffle. The Additional Excise Commissioner (Enforcement) will hold the charge of Excise Commissioner until further orders, according to the transfer order issued by the General Administration Department. 

The row began over the issuance of licences for three beer parlours in Muvattupuzha, Kochi and Pala. The officials granted the licences after considering the application to upgrade the beer parlours to bars. Two Excise Officials, P K Satish and P L Shibu, were suspended for issuing the licence. The Commissioner's report, however, favoured the officials, and said the licences were granted in accordance with the existing norms. Excise Minister M Liju differed with this finding and brushed aside the report.

The issue escalated further when Sambasiva Rao defended the decision to grant licences to two bars inside the Nedumbassery airport lounge, saying it was part of discharging his responsibilities. He said that the provision for granting FL-7 licences was introduced through a law enacted during the UDF government's tenure in 2011 and that he had merely followed the existing rules. The commissioner submitted a detailed explanation to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Tax Department after documents related to the grant of the bar licences were published. This also turned into a political row with the UDF and LDF trading blame. 

Excise Minister M Liju rejected the explanation as incomplete, noting that it failed to address several key questions. The minister directed the Additional Chief Secretary to seek a detailed report from the commissioner. He had also criticised the commissioner for sharing details of the report with the media before submitting it to the government.

The commissioner had not attended a meeting of Excise Department officials convened by the minister on Thursday. The development had fuelled speculation that the controversy could lead to his removal from the post.

 The commissioner had also initiated action on a third application despite being instructed not to grant any licences until the new liquor policy was announced.

In his report, the commissioner maintained that the lounge bar licences had been granted exclusively for the benefit of air passengers and that he had the authority to approve them. Regarding the third application, he claimed that he had not seen the government's directive issued in August.

The directive, dated August 4, had been sent to the Excise Commissioner by the Additional Chief Secretary. The minister had questioned how the commissioner could claim not to have seen an official communication from the department secretary. He had also asked how the commissioner had decided to reject the application if he had not seen the letter.

The minister also said the commissioner repeatedly landed the department in controversies through decisions marked by serious lapses and a lack of transparency. The minister said an order would be issued prohibiting the grant of bar licences before the new liquor policy comes into force.

Sources said that the Minister had not demanded the transfer of Sambasiva Rao and the government's move is part of proposed comprehensive measures to bring clarity to the process of issuing bar licences. The government has directed that until the liquor policy is finalised, no new licences shall be granted. Officials, however, say no formal order has been issued so far.