KARACHI: In a recent development over the Sindh High Court’s verdict regarding ban on liquor shops in the province, Sindh Minister of Excise Mukesh Kumar Chawla on Thursday called on Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to discuss the high court verdict.
The excise minister discussed the legal ramifications of the court verdict with regard to liquor permits and related matters.
Excise Minister Chawla says that the province earns an annual grossing of 44 billion rupees from the wine trade related revenues.
The minister also discussed challenging the high court verdict in the Supreme Court in meeting with the chief minister. The government has decided to challenge the court verdict in the apex court, a government source said.
After the court orders, police sealed the liquor shops in Dadu, Tando Mohammad Khan, Nawabshah, Sanghar, Naushehro Feroz, Matiyari and Umarkot districts of Sindh.
Sindh High Court on Thursday ordered to revoke the licences of all liquor shops across the province while hearing petitions against illegal wine shops.
Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah ordered Director General Excise and I.G. Sindh Police to ensure revoking the wine shop permits and a compliance report to the effect be presented to the court.
In a previous hearing of the case, SHC Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah had observed that there was no provision under Section 17 of the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order, 1979 which allowed granting of general licences to liquor shops to sell alcoholic beverages throughout the year.
The bench had also observed that only non-Muslims could be provided liquor for consumption, that too only for religious ceremonies after they had filed a request in advance along with supporting evidence from their religious bodies.
