Daily Times

KARACHI: There are chances that the Department of Excise and Taxation, Government of Sindh, will allow the opening of liquor shops, closed on the orders of Sindh High Court, under certain terms and conditions.

A senior official of the department told Daily Times that the department generates around Rs 4.5 billion annually from the 120 wine shops operating in the province and the taxes are generated under the head of excise duty and annual license renewal fee. “In this connection a meeting of high officials including legal experts is scheduled to be held on Monday (today) to finalize the mechanism”, the official added

The official added that the Sindh government is planning to get a stay order or challenge the decision in the Supreme Court as the excise department would face financial losses of billions of rupees due to the closure of wine shops.

Daily Times repeatedly tried to contact Sindh Minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla however his cellular phone remained unattended.

Meanwhile, the local wine as well as foreign got a boost in their prices after the closure of shops across Sindh, while in middle class areas the selling of cough syrups has increased.

The SHC’s directed Inspector General of Sindh police and Director General Excise Department to shutdown all liquor shops in the province and revoke all licenses in this regard.

It has been observed that after the closure of wine shops the mafia is supplying wine to its customers at much higher rates. “Usually, the half liter Dry Gen is sold in Rs 300-350 at a shop, but now it is being sold at Rs 800-1000,” said a regular buyer.

He added that the suppliers have also increased the rates of foreign whisky following the shortage of liquor in the market. Arbab Chandio, a senior journalist, told Daily Times that though the court had issued orders to close all the liquor stores in Sindh, huge quantity of imported liquor is being supplied in the province.

He said this sudden move to close liquor shops has resulted in the use of drugs like charas, cocaine, opium, bhang and in many cases people are using cough syrups as an alternative to wine. “It will also lead to a rise in the use of spurious liquor known as kuppi or tharra,” Arbab added.

“Generally, the foreign liquor is not sold by the stores, which the court has ordered to close down. The smugglers and other elements have developed an organized distribution system and the orders are generally booked over phone and the goods are then supplied at given address,” said another person.

He said the distribution is not a big deal as the major issue is supply of foreign origin liquor as it is imported by the foreign missions in Pakistan or their authorized contractors.

“The imported consignments which have the diplomatic immunity are dumped at various places and from these places and warehouses the liquor is supplied to customers,” according to an owner of a local wine shop, who wished not to be named.

Sources in Pakistan Customs told that when any such consignment is seized by the customs authorities, the diplomats intervene and get their consignments released with the help of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The diplomatic missions are granted quotas to import liquor, but these missions and their authorized contractors bring much more than the quota. “When their consignments are seized, they get their quotas increased from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” sources added.

It is pertinent to note that the stores closed down in Sindh on court’s orders usually sell locally made liquors, wine, and beer because the import, sale, and consumption of foreign liquor, wine, and beer is already prohibited.