Kerala Horti wine row: Govt freezes bakery sale order, removes Excise Deputy Commissioner

Thiruvananthapuram: Excise Deputy Commissioner in charge of Abkari, C K Anil Kumar, has been removed from his post. V Subhash has been appointed as the new Abkari Deputy Commissioner. The Excise Department has also frozen the order allowing the sale of Horti wine through bakeries. Sales have also been prohibited in shopping malls and supermarkets. The Excise Department explained that the order is frozen as procedures to announce the current government's liquor policy are presently underway.

Anil Kumar was appointed as Excise Deputy Commissioner (Abkari) during the tenure of the previous government. A preliminary investigation revealed that the Excise Commissioner issued the order permitting Horti wine sales based on Anil Kumar's recommendation. Based on this report, the order removing Anil Kumar from his post was issued on Sunday, despite it being a public holiday.

The order allowing Horti wine distribution via bakeries was issued without the government's knowledge. Although it was a policy decision taken during the previous government's administration, Chief Minister V D Satheesan expressed strong dissatisfaction over executing the decision without informing the government prior to the formulation of the new administration's liquor policy. Following this, Excise Minister M Liju intervened in the matter and ordered an internal investigation.

The decision to immediately transfer Anil Kumar was taken after the investigation established his involvement. Although he has been relieved of his responsibilities, no replacement posting has been assigned to Anil Kumar in the official order.