‘Dry days’ in Delhi: Liquor shops to remain shut on THESE days between January March

Liquor shops in Delhi will remain shut for six days between January and March this year. The Delhi government will observe a 'dry day' on 26 January on the occasion of the Republic Day celebration. Besides, as per Delhi's excise department, the dry days will also be observed on 24 February (Guru Ravidas Jayanti), 6 March ( Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti), 8 March (Maha Shivaratri), 25 March (Holi) and 29 March (Good Friday), respectively.

On the aforementioned days, the sale of liquor will be prohibited in the national capital. Meanwhile, several BJP leaders, including Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, have demanded that January 22 should be declared a 'dry day'. On 22 January a grand ceremony of Ram Temple of consecration will take place in Ayodhya.

So far four Indian states have declared a 'dry day' on 22 January Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Chhhattisgarh. During the political slugfest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi LG last year, the excise commissioner was given the power to announce dry days in the national capital in August last year.

Delhi government's finance department transferred the chief minister's power of announcing dry days to the excise commissioner. The Delhi government had done away with its Excise Policy 2021 22 and withdrew it on August 31, 2022. The excise policy came under the radar after the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.

The LG said that the AAP government favouerd certain dealers while granting liquor licenses in lieu of bribes. After ED's complaint, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case. Several AAP ministers have been sent to jail under the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, including Manish Sisodia.

On Saturday, the ED issued a fourth summons to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and asked him to appear on 18 January. Kejriwal has repeatedly accused the BJP led Centre of nursing 'political vendetta' and using central agencies at its disposal to hound and harass Opposition leaders. Last week Kejriwal reiterated that there is no excise policy scam as it is being alleged and there is no evidence against any of the AAP leaders, who are in jail.

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