A petitioner has challenged opening an excise wine shop in a Muslim-majority area and that too, close to a school.
As per Pakistani law, only non-Muslims have the privilege of imbibing legally procured liquor from the government's excise department's wine shops opened under licence by non-Muslim vendors.
A two-member bench headed by Sindh High Court Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh heard the petition against the wine shop established near the school on Abul Hasan Isphani Road.
The petitioner's lawyer, Usman Farooq Advocate, submitted that a wine shop has been opened in front of the school on Abu-ul-Hasan Asfahani Road, while the licence to open a wine shop has been taken from the concerned authorities at another place. A complaint in this regard was also filed with the concerned police indicted but no action has been taken.
The Sindh Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department in its reply said that there is no school or religious place of worship within 100 yards from the wine shop.
Moreover, the excise department said that all relevant rules were taken into consideration while issuing the licence to the wine shop.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 21st, 2022.
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