PESHAWAR, June 10: The NWFP government informed the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday that following a judgment of the Supreme Court’s Shariat appellate bench liquor could not be sold or purchased by a Muslim or a firm owned by a Muslim.

The NWFP Advocate-General, Barrister Jehanzeb Raheem, submitted his written comments on behalf of the provincial government before the high court in a writ petition challenging the cancellation of a liquor permit of a liquor-selling outlet — Greens Hotel Limited.

The AG informed the court that the claim of the petitioner that his licence was cancelled on the verbal orders of the chief minister was not correct. He said the chief minister had issued written orders to the Excise and Taxation Department for cancellation of all liquor licences which were issued to Muslims or firms owned by Muslims.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Shehzad Akber Khan, directed the advocate-general to place on record the written order of the chief minister as it was not appended with the comments.

The bench also directed the petitioner’s counsel, Qazi Mohammad Anwer, to file a rejoinder in reply to the comments filed by the government. The bench fixed June 17 for next hearing.

The written order of the chief minister was issued on May 13 to the Excise and Taxation Department. The order, written in Urdu, states that through a judgment delivered on Jan 11, 1988, the Supreme Court’s Shariat appellate bench had declared illegal the issuance of a liquor licence to a Muslim or a firm or company owned by a Muslim. Therefore, the chief minister directed, all the licences issued to a Muslim should be forthwith cancelled and a ban should be imposed on the sale and purchase of liquor.

The petitioner, Greens Hotel Limited, is one of the two officially sanctioned liquor outlets in the NWFP. The petitioner has claimed that no notice was served on it by the Excise and Taxation Department before cancellation of the permit and sealing of the existing stock with it.

The petitioner said that the department had not followed the procedure for cancellation of the permit.

The petitioner claimed that from 1997 till May 1, 2003, it had paid Rs27.25 million in excise duty on the sale of liquor.

It said on the verbal directives of the provincial government, the Excise and Taxation Officer No.II, Peshawar, sealed the existing liquor stock, including 542 gallons of whisky and brandy and 1,985 bottles of beer on May 13. The petitioner apprehended wastage of existing stock amounting to Rs20 million.

The respondents in the petition are the NWFP government through the chief secretary, secretary Excise and Taxation, director-general Excise and Taxation, Excise and Taxation Officer No.II and assistant ETO, Peshawar.