SC sets aside LHC ruling

ISLAMABAD - A three-judge bench of Supreme Court Monday allowed the government to implement its annual Haj policy for this year and set aside a ruling of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in this regard.

Granting leave to an appeal filed by Ministry of Religious Affairs after hearing about a dozen petitions of private tour operators questioning the allocation of Haj quota, the apex court has asked the government to allocate the quota to the registered operators and make arrangements for the Hajjis (pilgrims). LHC had directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to review its policy of allocating Haj Quota in view of the grievances agitated by private tour operators.  The bench, that passed a short order on the issue after hearing the case in length, comprised Acting Chief Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Justice Ch Ejaz Yousaf and Justice Muhammad Qaim Jan Khan.

Syed Talib Rizvi Advocate appeared before the court as counsel of the Ministry of Religious Affairs while Dr Babar Awan was representing the tour operators. Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum and Deputy Attorney General Raja Abdul Rehman also assisted the bench.

During the hearing, the bench was informed that after the deliberations with Pakistani officials, Saudi authorities had increased the quota for Pakistan for this year with the condition that only those operators would be allocated the quota who had been previously rendering their services to Hajjis.

After hearing the arguments in detail, the bench accepted the appeal of the Ministry of Religious Affairs for regular hearing and asked the government to continue with is Haj Policy.