‘Act against DDCA staff who served alcohol on dry day’

NEW DELHI: The special inquiry committee of the Delhi assembly probing the alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has asked the excise commissioner to investigate, report and legally prosecute the association officials guilty of serving liquor on October 2, 2013.
When the subject of serving of alcohol — which is banned on October 2, it being Gandhi Jayanti — at the Outswinger bar at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium came up, former India cricketer and suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad, a witness in the inquiry against DDCA, was aggrieved that the government had let the association off the hook, despite the excise department sealing the bar in September 2015.
“This is against national pride and regulations. Why wasn’t further criminal action taken against the people responsible for serving alcohol on October 2? Simply cancelling the bar licence doesn’t suffice,” Azad protested. Saurabh Bhardwaj, chairman of the committee, reassured Azad, saying, “We have asked the excise department to take legal recourse on this. Action will be taken.” Incidentally, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley was president of DDCA when the alleged offence was committed.
The association officials had argued that they had to serve liquor that day because matches of the now defunct Champions League T20 were being played.
Azad and fellow deposers Bishan Singh Bedi, Surinder Khanna and Sameer Bahadur urged the government to file criminal cases against people accused of siphoning funds and flouting laws while running DDCA. “People have been accused of misappropriating Rs 1.55 crore, but only civil cases have been filed against them. Serving liquor on Gandhi Jayanti is also a criminal offence,” insisted Azad. “The government can step in.”
The committee also noted Azad’s version on how the DDCA’s balance sheets were made and left it to itself to further probe the financial documents.
Sanjeev Rastogi