Health Ministry accused of Buying 12 Bottles of Booze

Did the Minister of Health, Kailesh Jagutpal, mislead the public on 10 November during a talk show on Radio Plus?

At the Labour/MMM/PMSD meeting in Chemin Grenier on Friday evening, Labour MP Eshan Juman alleged, with what he described as supporting documents, that the minister had “lied”.

On Radio Plus, Minister Jagutpal had earlier claimed, after a phone call from Eshan Juman addressing the topic of alcohol purchases by the ministry, that “every year, we give out champagne and chocolate.

He unfortunately believes that the ministry purchases champagne. And then, we receive gifts of champagne and we return it in a different way because we don’t use them.

If Eshan Juman believes that we are using ministry funds for this, then he is dreaming.”

However, a document presented by Eshan Juman indicates that the Ministry of Health allegedly placed an order with Bhageerutty Commercial Centre Ltd for nine bottles of red wine and three bottles of Black Label whisky, totalling Rs 12,449.92.

The transaction is seen to have taken place on 30 March 2023, well after the end-of-year festivities. The Ministry of Health allegedly made the payment on 19 May.

Source: Defi Media