Hajj Services: Ministry accused of delaying applications

Petitioners say they deposited Rs3 million processing fee in the ministry’s account for 124 applications.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued notice to the Ministry of Religious Affairs for August 15 for allegedly not entertaining 124 Hajj applications.  Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry issued the order while hearing a petition by a private company that offers Hajj and Umrah services.

The petitioners through their counsel said that they had deposited a Rs3 million processing fee in the ministry’s account for 124 applications. They said that an additional Rs10.5 million was also paid to the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for the tickets of these 124 pilgrims, but one of the directors of the ministry had stopped the processing of applications.

The petitioner argued that the ministry did not have the right to stop the processing as all the application requirements had been completed. The company’s counsel requested the court to direct the ministry to approve the applications.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2011.