The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday issued an interim order to reopen wine shops in Sindh which were sealed last month in light of the Sindh High Court orders.
During proceedings Justice Saqib Nisar asked under which laws the licenses were issued to wine shops. Responding Justice Nisar’s remarks the legal counsel Shahid Hamid informed the bench that licenses were issued under Article 17.
Justice Nisar further remarked whether alcohol was being imported into the country.
Earlier in October, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered the provincial government to shutdown and revoke licenses of all liquor shops operating in the province.
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 bath in it”.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by citizens Muhammad Zafar Muavia and Shehryar David, which pleased the court tht 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 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.
Naa pina haram hai , naa pilana haram hai ! Bas pi ke hosh me aana haram hai ! Wine is not a hard-drink even if premium whisky bottles were found in the National Assembly's rooms.
Islam does not stop selling of alcohol but Muslims are directed to abstain from it .If any muslim follows the direction of islam its purely his discretion. Government or court has no right to take any action against human rights .
Its v sad that wine shops will reopen… plz plz plz it should not reopen again.. government cannot understand that just reopeing of these shops can again make many families in troubles n unhappy.. plz dont reopen these shops..
The government should make alcohol legal and put tax on it. It's a business. Those who choose to abuse it, they will, wether you shut down the shops or burn down the towns or make it legal. My point being, people do what they want anyway. The ones who drink will drink, wether that's from a bootlegger or a legal shop. Similarly those who abstain from it, will continue to do so. The government has no right to take the power of that decision away from the people.
Atleast when the government makes it legal the local economy will gain from it, and so will the government by not importing foreign products. But hey, that's just me, the government is probably too afraid, and so are the people. Just afraid. No wonder our country is so slow at progress.
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