The Lahore High Court on Wednesday disposed of 45 identical petitions challenging the allotment of the Haj quota to the already registered Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) and ordered the Religious Affairs Ministry to allot the Haj quota to new HGOs, if they satisfy the conditions set in the Haj policy 2012. The court also ordered the ministry to allot a quota of not less than 5000 pilgrims to the new HGOs. The court observed that the ministry could manage the quota for the new HGOs from Saudi Arabia, the existing HGOs and the quota of the blacklisted HGOs.
The court also directed the ministry to complete the allotment of quota to the new HGOs by June 18.
LHC Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial was hearing the identical petitions filed by Travel Shop (PVT) Limited and 44 others.
As the proceedings started on Wednesday, a law officer informed the court that the Haj quota had been allotted to the HGOs according to the Haj Policy 2012.
The negotiations were under process with the Saudi government for a Haj quota of 10, 000 pilgrims, he said, adding that the ministry could allot the quota to the new HGOs after getting a go-ahead from the Saudi government. However, the CJ, after hearing the arguments ordered the ministry to allot the quota to the new HGOs and disposed of the petitions. The petitioners had challenged the allotment of the Haj quota by the Religious Affairs Ministry to 721 already registered HGOs only.
