The Lahore High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of a petition against price hike, especially in Ramazan, till July 16. The court ordered the Punjab government and Lahore district coordination officer (DCO) to submit suggestions and the mechanism adopted to control price hike.
Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan passed the orders on a petition filed by Judicial Activism Panel, a public interest litigation firm.
Earlier, the Lahore DCO appeared before the court and told the court that effective steps were adopted to control price hike in Ramszan bazaars.
He said that various raids were conducted and shopkeepers responsible for creating the “artificial price hike” were fined.
The petitioner’s counsel contended that daily commodities were not in the reach of citizens even though Pakistan is an agricultural country.
The court noted that price hike was not being control despite the provision of subsidy.
The court ordered the Punjab government and Lahore DCO to submit in writing, suggestions and mechanism to control price hike and adjourned the case till July 16.
COURT ADJOURNS PETITION AGAINST HAJ POLICY:
The Lahore High Court adjourned the hearing of petitions against Haj Policy 2014 till July 11, ordering the Religious Affairs federal secretary to decide petitioners’ objections and submit a report within three days.
Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan passed the orders on petitions filed by Muhammad Arif Idrees and tour operators.
The court directed the petitioners to approach the secretary who would decide objections after hearing their stance.
The court also announced the interim order which was reserved on July 7 after hearing arguments of both parties.
Earlier, petitioners’ counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique submitted that the Haj Policy2014 was not framed per the Supreme Court directions.
He pointed out that the petitioners had raised different objects on Haj policy but the ministry finalised the policy without deciding the objections.
He said that the Religious Affairs Ministry did not allot Haj quota to new Haj group organisers (HGOs), adding that “this is the reason for costly Haj”.
Azhar said that 19 old HGOs were allotted quota against merit and the ministry did not make any extensive exercise for allotment of quota on merit.
He said that the ministry allotted a quota of 15,000 Hajis to the HGOs after withdrawing it from government’s Haj Scheme despite the fact that government Haj Scheme was far less costly than that of the HGOs.
However, a law officer contended that the policy was framed on merit and under directions of the apex court.
He said that the ministry withdrew a 20 percent quota of HGOs in 2013 and signed an agreement with HGOs that it would allot additional quota in 2014. He said that 15,000 additional quota was being given to HGOs under the agreement.
