SHC seeks details of liquor shops in Sindh

Order comes regarding petition against shifting of shop to Muslim majority area

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Thursday the excise and taxation department's director-general (DG) to submit the complete details of all the liquor shops operating across the province.

A two-judge bench, headed by SHC chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah, passed this direction while hearing a petition against shifting of a liquor shop from Karachi's Korangi area to North Karachi Township.

Muhammad Zafar Mavia, a resident of North Karachi, had approached the court against the shifting of the liquor shop. He had named the provincial home secretary, the DG of the excise and taxation department and M/s Lucky Traders as respondents.

The petitioner informed the judges that M/s Lucky Traders had been granted a licence by the excise and taxation department to open a liquor shop in Korangi No 2 ½. However, he came to know that the owner was shifting the shop to North Karachi's sector H, which is a Muslim majority area.

Mavia apprehended that the open sale of liquor will cause problems for the residents, as members of the religious minorities do not live there. On the last hearing, the judges had directed the excise and taxation authorities to submit details of all the liquor shops being operated in Karachi.

On Thursday, the provincial law officer informed the court that the excise and taxation department had issued licences to 75 liquor shops in the city. The bench directed the excise and taxation DG to submit details of all the liquor shops being run across the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2016.