State CPI(M) secretary M.V. Govindan denied any change in policy. "When there is no news, news is created and that is what has happened. The state government has already made it clear that no decision has been taken, then why is there this noise," he said.
However, after a political uproar over the issue, Minister Rajesh wrote a letter to the state police chief to investigate the audio clip and register a case.
The case will be filed against Animan, president of Idukki Federation o Kerala Hotel Association, who is also the vice-president of the apex body of BA hotel owners. His audio clip itself had gone viral.
Normally, the annual liquor policy comes into effect from April 1, but this time it was postponed due to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections.Some of the relaxations that were said to have been included in the new liquor policy are the removal of dry days (i.e., the first day of every calendar month), and extending the timing of liquor sales in shops and bars.
After the controversy came to light, Sunil Kumar, president of the majority of bar owners in the state, flatly refused any campaign to collect funds to make a favorable liquor policy. He said the bar owners had met to discuss purchasing a building in the state capital for their association.
But his refusal failed when the meeting agenda had no mention of the building project but was instead about the proposed liquor policy.
The Congress-led opposition is likely to stick to its demand for Rajesh's resignation. The BJP leadership has said this is a similar version of Delhi's liquor policy, which had landed top leaders like CM Arvind Kejriwal in jail.So once the government orders the case, it won't take much time to interrogate Anemone.
In 2015, the then Excise Minister K.M. Mani had to step down after allegations of taking bribe of Rs 1 crore from bar owners came to light. And, in the latest case, the audio clip states that the demand is Rs 2.5 lakh, which could add up to over Rs 20 crore.
However, after a political uproar over the issue, Minister Rajesh wrote a letter to the state police chief to investigate the audio clip and register a case.
The case will be filed against Animan, president of Idukki Federation o Kerala Hotel Association, who is also the vice-president of the apex body of BA hotel owners. His audio clip itself had gone viral.
Normally, the annual liquor policy comes into effect from April 1, but this time it was postponed due to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections.Some of the relaxations that were said to have been included in the new liquor policy are the removal of dry days (i.e., the first day of every calendar month), and extending the timing of liquor sales in shops and bars.
After the controversy came to light, Sunil Kumar, president of the majority of bar owners in the state, flatly refused any campaign to collect funds to make a favorable liquor policy. He said the bar owners had met to discuss purchasing a building in the state capital for their association.
But his refusal failed when the meeting agenda had no mention of the building project but was instead about the proposed liquor policy.
The Congress-led opposition is likely to stick to its demand for Rajesh's resignation. The BJP leadership has said this is a similar version of Delhi's liquor policy, which had landed top leaders like CM Arvind Kejriwal in jail.So once the government orders the case, it won't take much time to interrogate Anemone.
In 2015, the then Excise Minister K.M. Mani had to step down after allegations of taking bribe of Rs 1 crore from bar owners came to light. And, in the latest case, the audio clip states that the demand is Rs 2.5 lakh, which could add up to over Rs 20 crore.
