Stating that a Rs 3,500 crore liquor scam took place in the state during the YSRCP regime, the AP government informed the Supreme Court that YSRCP MP Mithun Reddy was the main kingpin by ensuring that only selected brands of liquor were sold between 2019-24. The government has filed a counter to this effect in Mithun Reddy’s petition for anticipatory bail in the liquor case in the Supreme Court.
It has stated that Mithun Reddy was key in designing and running the entire affair and that he and some other accused had planned a strategy to change the entire liquor policy and its structure so that bribes would be given to them and those who wanted it. It said that most of these were received in the form of cash and gold.
The government explained in the counter that till 2019, the procurement of liquor in the state was done through a government-run portal and the sale of liquor was done through private shops. It said that computer-based auto generated orders for supplies were issued to suppliers for the amount of liquor required, but on August 16, 2019, the government gave the opportunity to APBCL to set up government retail outlets based on GO No. 357.
The court was told that on September 16, 2019, Indian Rail Traffic Service officer Vasudeva Reddy was brought to the state on deputation and appointed as the MD of APSBCL. He was also appointed as the Beverages and Distilleries Commissioner to keep the sale and purchase of liquor, distilleries and label registrations in the state completely secret.
On October 18, 2019, when APSBCL Special Officer D. Satya Prasad met Mithun Reddy at his residence in Tirupati, he promised him IAS promotion benefits if he cooperated in this scam. Then, Satya Prasad collected details of liquor sales made by APSBCL for several years on the instructions of Mithun Reddy.
The government said in its counter that they took them and went to Vijayasai Reddy’s house in Hyderabad on October 13, 2019, along with Vasudeva Reddy, where Mithun Reddy, KC Reddy Rajasekhar Reddy and his son-in-law Avinash Reddy were also present. They all examined the sales details together and estimated that if their plan was implemented, they could earn Rs. 50 to 60 crores every month.
The government brought to the court’s attention that C-Tel software was used till 2019 to connect retail stores, depots, APSBCL head office and distilleries. That software checks the sales in retail stores, stock and storage in APSBCL depots and automatically issues OFS.
But, Vasudeva Reddy told APSBCL CGM Anjaneya Prasad to disable the automated OFS generation as per the conspiracy hatched in the meeting held on October 15, 2019, and on his orders, Database Administrator Ramakoteswara Rao sent an email to C-Tel to this effect. It is stated that C-Tel Project Manager Thumu Nagendra, upon seeing it, wrote a letter to APSBCL explaining the difficulties faced in the supply of liquor if the automated OFS generation was stopped.
It was alleged in the court that Mithun Reddy and Vasudeva Reddy ignored them and removed the automatic system with the malicious intention of controlling the sale and purchase of liquor in the state. It was stated that a private email ID was created for liquor purchase orders and OFS requests, and that they manually reviewed the orders received in this email and used the C-Tel platform to issue OFSs to select distilleries and suppliers to place liquor orders.
The court also informed that after the introduction of this new policy, a large amount of OFSs were issued by APSBCL to companies that did not even have their own liquor manufacturing facilities, leaving aside brands that were popular across the country.
