Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday directed Ministry of Religious Affairs to submit a list of 100 new Haj group organizers (HGOs) who qualify the criteria by August 15.
The court also directed the ministry to inform Haj pilgrims about complaint centers located in Makkah and Medina so that in case of complaints, their grievances could be addressed immediately.
The court passed these orders after hearing a petition filed by Ashfaq Ahmad Mirza and others against new Haj group organizers not being allotted the quota despite court orders.
Earlier, ministry’s counsel sought time to file details of new Haj group organizers.
The court was informed that more than 700 applications were being scrutinized for new Haj organizers and details had been forwarded to Federal Board of Revenue for verification.
The chief justice ordered the completion of the process by August 15.
A ministry officer said that complaint centers were located in Saudi Arabia as well as
Pakistan so that complaints against new HGOs could be addressed
The court directed ministry to inform Haj pilgrims in writing about complaint centre located in Makkah and Medina.
The petitioners submitted that the court had ordered the ministry to allot a quota of 5000 pilgrims to new HGOs and complete the process by June 18. However, the respondents were delaying the matter to avoid allotment of quota to new HGOs. They asked the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents for disobeying court order.
