TMCnet News
Haj policy challenged(Nation (Pakistan) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Haj policy 2014 has been challenged in the Supreme Court Lahore Registry. A few newlyappearing Hajj tour operators, through their counsel Advocate Azhar Siddique, filed the petition on Friday and submitted that the new policy was not made as per the directions of the SC. They prayed that the federal government should be directed to ensure transparency in the distribution of Hajj quota. They argued that the SC had ordered the federal government to constitute a committee comprising consisting of officials from Ministry of Religious Affairs, Competition Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Law. But, the petitioners added, the directions of the SC were ignored and the new hajj policy, 2014 was introduced. "Hajj is mandatory on every Muslim once in a lifetime if he can afford it," they maintained. They said that the government had fixed Rs230,000 on every pilgrim to pay it for performing hajj but, unfortunately, the tour operators already in the market were charging Rs600,000 per pilgrim. It was totally unjustified and illegal and against the order of the SC, they said. They further said that the ministry of religious affairs had distributed hajj quota among its 19 blueeyed old hajj operators. The petitioners prayed the court to set aside the Hajj Policy 2014 and direct the government to ensure transparency in quota distribution. |