Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday sought a reply from the ministry of religious affairs today (Wednesday) on an application against excluding Haj Group Organisers (HGOs), who offered inexpensive services, from the merit list for allocation of 910 Haj quota.
The chief justice passed the orders on a civil miscellaneous application filed by Travel Shop and others in a pending matter challenging Haj Policy-2013 and allocation of Haj quota.
As the proceedings started, the petitioner’s counsel placing a notification of the ministry of religious affairs submitted that the companies which offered inexpensive Haj services were excluded from the list for allocation of 910 Haj quota.
He said 45 HGOs offered to provide Haj services at Rs 250,000 each. However, the ministry selected only 14 HGOs out of 45 in a list of 30 top bidders whereas others were excluded from the list on minor issues.
He said the step was taken to frustrate efforts to make Haj inexpensive. However, the chief justice after hearing arguments issued notice to the ministry and sought reply by July 17.
