The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, took up the petitions filed by tour operators.
Azhar Siddique, the counsel of 14 of the 74 petitioners said that although the ministry had announced the Haj policy for 2010, it had not given them forms on which to apply for the quota,
Disposing of the petition, the court directed the ministry to consider the applications of Haj tour operators for their quota and provide them the application forms.
In another petition, Ahmer Bilal Sufi, counsel for several other petitioners submitted that the ministry had forced tour operators to pay a cash guarantee, adding that the ministry had invested the money and earning profit on it.
The bench also dismissed his petition and asked him to reach an out-of-court settlement, saying that the cash guarantee was a kind of performance check.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 18th, 2010.
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