Excise dept involved in bribery, transfer racket, alleges Ashoka

Bengaluru: In the Excise Department, bribes are being taken for granting licenses and for facilitating transfers. Related audio recordings have been released, and complaints have been filed with the Lokayukta. Therefore, Excise Minister R.B. Thimmapur should resign immediately, demanded Opposition Leader R. Ashoka.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, he said that in the state government, the Excise Department is the No. 1 department in corruption. Irregularities are taking place in forms such as bribes for licenses and fixed amounts for transfers. Congress leaders who are opposing the VBG Ramji scheme are talking about Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals. However, the Congress party is not following Gandhi’s ideals.

In a WhatsApp message from government officials, it has been officially instructed that since the CM and Dy CM are participating in a housing department program in Hubballi, more people will come, so liquor shops should stock sufficient quantities of liquor and sell it. This is a program that ruins homes. CM Siddaramaiah talks about lessons in sensitivity. Telling people to drink liquor is their idea of sensitivity, he said.

The minister is silent because monthly fees come from officials in the scandal happening in the Excise Department. The president of the liquor sellers’ association, Guruswamy, has issued a press statement saying he will complain to Rahul Gandhi about the irregularities. “In the department, targets are given every year to collect money, from licenses to all stages, one has to grease palms, it has been detected that the Excise DC takes bribes when issuing licenses. Bribes have to be given from senior officials to juniors. A complaint has been given to the Chief Minister about this,” Guruswamy has said.

Permission has been given to two thousand liquor shops, bribes of 50 lakh rupees for one and one crore rupees for another have been taken, if bribes are not given by the 10th of every month, shop owners are harassed. Guruswamy is from CM Siddaramaiah’s Varuna constituency itself. Even though Guruswamy has complained, Siddaramaiah has not helped. He has said that Siddaramaiah is no longer a strong CM, he added.

An audio related to the Excise Department scandal has come out. In it, allegations have been made against Excise Minister R.B. Thimmapur and his son. Yet, the minister says it’s not him. Until June 2025, there are 3,267 hotel restaurants under CL-7, 4,342 MRPs under CL-2, 3,667 bars under CL-9, 1,088 under CL-11C, 316 clubs under CL-4, and 86 star hotels under CL-6. In total, there are 14,229 institutions supplying liquor. Bribes of Rs 15-20,000 are collected from each shop every month. That means, on average, 21 crore rupees per month and 252 crore rupees per year.

Money is fixed for transfers in the Excise Department. For Deputy Commissioners, 2.5 to 3.5 crore rupees, for Superintendents 25-30 lakh rupees, for Deputy Superintendents 30-40 lakh rupees, for Excise Inspectors 40-50 lakh rupees, for constables 5-8 lakh rupees have to be paid. Among these, the constables themselves run four to five bars, he said.