Saudis have banned Hajj quotas, LHC told

‘Govt discriminating in allotting quotas to private tour operators’.

LAHORE:

The Saudi government has banned Hajj quotas so the government cannot give such quotas to tour operators, Ministry of Religious Affairs additional secretary Muhammad Arshad Bhatti told the Lahore High Court on Monday.

Appearing before LHC Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry during the hearing of dozens of petitions challenging the government’s Hajj Policy 2011, Bhatti said that several other petitions of a similar nature were pending in the Islamabad and Sindh High Courts. He also handed a copy of the Hajj Policy 2011 to the court in a sealed envelope.

Advocate Tipu Salman Makhdoom, counsel for Meerub Travel Tours (Pvt) Ltd and Golden Travel Services (Pvt) Ltd, told the court that the Sindh High Court had decided the case in favour of tour operators that had approached it. However, Bhatti said the LHC at the last hearing had ruled that the status quo be maintained while the case was being decided. He said the ministry was working on an agreement with tour operators, so “adverse orders” from the court would be a great inconvenience. The chief justice observed that he had passed no such order at the last hearing, only that the final allocation of Hajj quotas would be subject to the outcome of the petitions in the LHC.

The court also took notice of an adjournment request by Advocate Ahmad Awais, counsel for several petitioners, and gave him a last opportunity to appear on May 23, or the court would decide the case in his absence, the chief justice said.

Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique, representing other petitioners, pointed out that the ministry had not filed a reply to his points. The chief justice directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to file a reply at the next hearing on May 23.

The court was hearing petitions filed by 13 tour operators asking the court to direct the government to issue Hajj quotas on merit and cancel previous notifications allotments. The federal government, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Law and the Competition Commission of Pakistan are named among the respondents.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2011.