The Lahore High Court’s Justice Khalid Mehmood Khan on Monday heard the plea against the Hajj Policy filed by private tour operators.
The Minister of Religious Affairs secretary, objecting on the petition, said that the petition challenging the Hajj Policy is not maintainable as Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and four other ministers granted the approval for allotting Hajj quota of 15000 pilgrims. The court remarked that the constitution protects the rights of the judges and the citizens. If Government, ministers or counselors can’t provide the basic rights to judges and citizens than the judiciary will step forward to provide the basic rights, said Justice Mehmood.
The lawyer of petition seekers Azhar Siddique argued that the Hajj Policy 2014 violated the constitution and the Supreme Court orders. Moreover, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has also accepted the unfair allocation of quota among private tour operators; therefore, the court should declare the Hajj Policy as null and void.
The court reserved its judgment regarding the petitions filed which will be announced tomorrow.
