Liquor license case: Dunya News obtains documents of CM Buzdar's reply to NAB
CM Buzdar said issuance of liquor license was responsibility of Director General Excise and Taxation
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has submitted a reply to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with its inquiry pertaining to the issuance of a liquor licence in Lahore.
Dunya News has obtained the documents of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar’s response in liquor license case.
The chief minister in his reply said that the anti-graft watchdog had given the questionnaire but did not provide copies of the complaint, adding that it is his legal right to be provide the copies of the complaint.
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In his reply, CM Buzdar said that issuance of liquor license was the responsibility of Director General (DG) Excise, adding that the Excise DG informed the Chief Secretary about the license to which the Chief Secretary said that the issuance of license is the responsibility of the concerned officer.
He further wrote that on January 8 last year, DG Excise forwarded him summary for the second time, adding that by the time the summary was forwarded, the license had been issued. The Chief Secretary and DG Excise hid the matter.
The chief minister wrote that the Principal Secretary then sent the summary back to the chief secretary. “The Chief Secretary wrote on the summary that the matter should be handled with care,” the CM added.
The CM, in his reply, stated that on March 5 last year, the secretary excise send a note to the principal secretary, but the CM’s principal secretary returned it for having been sent to an irrelevant forum.
Usman Buzdar stated then DG Excise and Taxation should be asked why he sent him the summary again and again. He said the job of the Principal Secretary is to convey matters to the chief minister as per the rules.
Buzdar maintained that according to the rules, the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary have no role in the issuance of liquor license.
On August 18, Earlier, Sadar Usman Buzdar had submitted a ‘short reply’ to NAB in connection with its inquiry pertaining to the issuance of a liquor licence.
Buzdar maintained in his reply that no illegal activity was committed in the matter pertaining to the licence. According to sources, the reply to the anti-graft watchdog s 17 questions was submitted through Buzdar s representative, advocate Obaidullah.
In his reply, the CM maintained that he played no part in issuance of the liquor licence as it falls under the jurisdiction of the excise and taxation director general. He stated that a total of 11 liquour licences have been issued to date, nine of which were issued by the DG of the Excise and Taxation Department, while two licences were issued by the governor in 2000 and 2001.
According to the sources, Buzdar maintained that Excise and Taxation DG Akram Ashraf Gondal s summary pertaining to the licence was sent back by his office as he did not have the authority to issue the licence.
The DG then sent the summary again to the CM s Secretariat after issuing the licence, and the principle secretary sent it back yet again owing to the absence of a relevant forum.
The CM stated that the excise and taxation minister suspended the liquor licence of the said hotel and Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court gave directives to restore the liquor licence in 2019, while the verdict on the intra-court appeal against the single-bench decision remains pending.
The chief minister is accused of receiving Rs50 million bribe to force the Excise and Taxation Department head to issue a liquor licence to the hotel in question in violation of the law. He is also facing charges of acquiring property, mostly in south Punjab, in the names of his relatives and others and awarding the Gateway-II Thokar Niaz Beg project to his ‘favourite contractor’.
