SHC orders closure of all wine shops in Sindh

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday ordered the provincial government to immediately shutdown and revoke licenses of all liquor shops operating in the process.

During the hearing, the DG Excise and Taxation department submitted its report stating that presently there are 59 registered wine shops operating in the city on which the court expressed its concerns remarking that it seems that there are more wine shops in Karachi than number of non-Muslims in the metropolis.

SHC Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, who was heading the bench, remarked that so much liquor was being sold in Karachi that "minority communities can bathe in it".

The bench had directed the Excise and Taxation department to inform the court about the criteria for the issuance of license for the wine shops.

The department informed the court that there are 59 wine shops functioning legally in Karachi but, according to a NADRA report, there are at least 268,363 non-Muslims living in the city out of which 196,122 are Christians and 72,241 are Hindus.

The petitioners, citizens Muhammad Zafar Muavia and Shehryar David, had submitted that as per rules wine shops should not be allowed in the in Muslim vicinities but many licenses have been issued for opening liquor shops in the areas where non-Muslims are not in majority which is the violation of the rules.

The court asked the Excise and Taxation official why the liquor shops were operating throughout the year despite being allowed to sell liquor only during festivals of minorities. The court further said that it suspects the shops were selling wine to other people as well while using the minorities as an excuse.

The court ordered the Director-General of the Sindh Excise and Taxation Department to initiate the process of revoking licenses of all 120 wine shops granted in violation of the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order 1979.

The court directed the director general to ensure issuance of notices to liquor shop owners in connection with cancellation of their licenses within two days. The court also sought responses from the Sindh government, Inspector General Sindh, and DG Excise by October 26.