'Private Haj operators to get quota

LAHORE The Lahore High Court on Tuesday gave detailed judgment on the petitions against the Haj Policy 2011 that the policy had closed the doors on the new private haj operators which was in defiance of the Article 25 and 18. The bench headed by the Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry had earlier invalidated the haj policy by denying haj quota to new haj operators while considering only those for quota who were operating the haj tours from the last many years. The court held that Religious Affairs Ministry took the pretext that the Saudi government has put a ban on the new haj organisers when this plea could not be established through record. By denying the new organisers, the ministry has attempted of creating monopoly of a group to benefit the favourites, the court observed. The court sought evolving a mechanism in which everyone gets equal treatment about the haj quota and the public problems are solved.

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