Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday declared the hajj quota distribution under Hajj Policy 2011 illegal and directed transparent distribution of quota.
Last week the court had barred the Ministry of Religious Affairs
from carrying out the process of allocating hajj quota to private tour
operators and sought detailed replies from the federal government and
the ministry by June 6.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Justice
Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Umar Ata Bandial passed this order while
hearing dozens of writ petitions filed by hajj tour operators against
alleged discrimination on part of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in
allocation of hajj quota to the operators.
Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique and others representing the main
petitioners had contended that the menace of allocating hajj quota to
the tour operators of personal liking and disliking had been going on
for the last eight years.
They said the ministry had been allocating quota among the same tour operators since 2004-05 after receiving kickbacks.
They said the ministry had been allocating quota among the same tour operators since 2004-05 after receiving kickbacks.
Rebutting the ministry’s claim about quota to new operators, the
counsel said Saudi government had not barred the Pakistan government
from allocating hajj quota to new operators.
They pointed out that the LHC in its judgment against Hajj Policy
2006 had directed the ministry to follow strictly merit and
constitutional provisions while making the policy.
On the court’s query, a deputy attorney general said that following
an agreement between Saudi Arabian and Pakistani authorities and the
former issued visas to 650 hajj tour operators, therefore, the ministry
was allocating quota to only those operators. He said that on order of
the SC 96 more operators were awarded the quota. SANA
