A judicial magistrate’s court in Karachi on Tuesday acquitted Sindh Senior Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon and five other accused in an eight-year-old case involving the alleged recovery of liquor bottles from his hospital room.
Follow Times of Karachi on Google News and add as a preferred Source on Google
The Judicial Magistrate South announced the verdict, acquitting all six accused due to a lack of evidence.
The court observed that the police and prosecution had failed to establish the charges against the accused and had not presented concrete evidence proving their involvement in the alleged offence.
The other accused included Memon’s servants and prison officials.
“Everyone was framed, and today this long-running 2008 trial has been exposed,” said Arosha Alam Memon, lawyer for Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, while speaking to the media at court in connection with the Ziauddin Hospital wine case. #TOKReports #SharjeelMemon https://t.co/Mtk2jtjLCy
— Times of Karachi (@TOKCityOfLights) October 13, 2026
Defence Says Bottles Contained Honey and Olive Oil
During the proceedings, Memon’s counsel argued that forensic and medical reports had established that the bottles recovered from the hospital room contained honey and olive oil rather than liquor.
The defence maintained that the allegations were unfounded and that the forensic findings did not support the police’s claim regarding the recovery of alcoholic beverages.
The court ultimately acquitted all six accused after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against them.
The verdict brings an end to a case that remained pending for approximately eight years.
Sharjeel Memon Liquor Case
The case dates back to September 1, 2018, when then Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar made a surprise visit to a hospital in Karachi’s Shirin Jinnah Colony.
At the time, Memon was receiving medical treatment at the hospital while in judicial custody. His hospital room had been declared a sub-jail.
During the visit, the then chief justice claimed that three bottles of liquor had been found in the room.
Following the incident, Memon was shifted to Karachi Central Jail, and Boat Basin police registered a case against him and three of his employees under Section 4 of the Prohibition (Enforcement of Hadd) Order, 1979, which concerns the possession of intoxicants.
Two people were subsequently taken into custody in connection with the alleged recovery. One of them reportedly maintained that the bottles contained honey and cooking oil rather than liquor.
Court Finds Prosecution Failed to Prove Charges
The case remained under judicial proceedings for eight years before the court acquitted all six accused.
The defence relied on forensic and medical reports to challenge the allegations, while the court’s decision was based on the prosecution’s failure to establish the charges with sufficient evidence.
The acquittal means the accused have been cleared of the charges in this case. The court’s ruling, as described in the available information, does not establish that the original allegations were deliberately fabricated.
The decision closes a long-running legal matter involving the Sindh minister, his employees and prison officials.
