KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday warned a top provincial official he would face trial if the existing law on alcohol sale was not appropriately amended and illegal licences were not cancelled.

Presiding over a case regarding illegal licences to liquor outlets, chief justice of the SHC, Sajjad Ali Shah observed that alcohol was being sold freely despite the court suspending its sale in the previous hearings. It bound the provincial government to come up with a transparent procedure of issuing licenses under clause 17 of the Hadood (Islamic) Ordinance that prescribed conditions for selling alcohol.

The advocate general of the provincial government apprised the court that sale of alcohol was resumed after the Supreme Court of Pakistan overruled the SHC suspension.

Justice Shah remarked that the apex court did not hold SHC orders illegal.

The chief justice further said alcohol was being sold openly even as article 17 of the ordinance did not allow for open sale of alcohol. The chief justice observed that the provincial government was taking advantage of the Supreme Court orders.

Justice Shah asked the government lawyer how long the government would take to draft a new law under the article 17 for issuing licenses.

The advocate general told court that within a fortnight a meeting of the non-Muslims representatives would be convened to consult with them before the law was amended.

The advocate general also pleaded that licences for selling alcohol were issued by the previous governments. The chief justice overruling his plea saying the present government was also getting huge revenues from those licences and thus it was bound to give account of it.

A lawyer representing minorities in the case apprised the court that despite SHC orders, alcohol was being sold openly and one outlet located opposite a Sikh temple, was providing home delivery as well.

Heera Singh, the lawyer of one of the petitioners also apprised the court that alcohol was being sold to Muslims as well.

Drawing a comparison between the Sindh and Punjab provinces, Singh said in the Punjab province merely 20 shops of liquor were operating whereas in Sindh province, 131 outlets were doing business.

Nevertheless, the chief justice ordered the public lawyer to update the court on December 9 as to what was being done to make the new law.

Sale and consumption of alcohol was banned in Pakistan in 1970s under Sharia but a limited business was allowed for Christian, Hindu and Sikh minorities who constitute only five per cent of the total population.

However, Muslims make up more than 90 per cent of the clientele at these shops that were supposed to sell alcohol only to minorities.