District Excise Officer Nidhish Kumar Koshti, in-charge of Mahasamund, suspended

Government took action in case of negligence and irregularity

Raipur, 06 June 2025: The Chhattisgarh government has suspended the District Excise Officer in-charge of Mahasamund district, Nidhish Kumar Koshti, with immediate effect in view of irregularities in government work, sale of liquor at a price higher than the fixed rate, serious shortage of stock and irregularities of lakhs of rupees in the sale amount. This action has been taken under the policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’ as per the instructions of Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai. During the suspension period, Koshti’s headquarters has been fixed at Excise Commissioner Office, Nava Raipur Atal Nagar. It is worth noting that on 29 May 2025, a senior officer of the Excise Department Headquarters Raipur conducted a surprise inspection of the composite liquor shop located at Ghodari in Mahasamund district. Before the inspection, a fake customer was sent to buy liquor by giving him a total of 4 notes of Rs 500 each, i.e. a total of Rs 2000. Instead of the fixed price of Rs 1760, the seller sold the liquor for Rs 2000. During interrogation, the seller accepted that he sold it at a higher price. In the physical verification of the stock, a shortage of 1886 pieces of Desi liquor masala and financial irregularities of Rs 1 lakh 88 thousand were found. At the same time, a shortage of Rs 3 lakh 8 thousand in cash and Rs 1 lakh 99 thousand in foreign liquor was detected as compared to the sales amount. Thus, a case of financial irregularities of Rs 6 lakh 96 thousand came to light. In view of the above irregularities, the state government has taken action to suspend the District Excise Officer in charge Mahasamund with immediate effect under the Chhattisgarh Civil Services Conduct Rules.

The Excise Commissioner informed that earlier on May 3, 2025, the state level flying squad had seized 351.17 bulk litres of illegal liquor manufactured in Odisha and legal only in Odisha in Bagbahara (Mahasamund), in which three cases were registered and action was taken against the absconding accused under sections 34 (2) and 59 (a) of the Excise Act. Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai has said that any kind of negligence, corruption or irregularity will not be tolerated in the discharge of government responsibilities in the state. This action taken in Mahasamund is a proof of the zero tolerance policy of the government.