Regulation: Ministry told to allocate Hajj quota on merit

Ministry to remove income tax defaulters from the list of eligible operators.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday disposed of a petition by three private tour operators and directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs to allocate Hajj quota to them on merit.

He also directed the ministry to allot quota to all eligible tour operators and remove income tax defaulters from the list of eligible operators.

Tour operators Imran Ahmed and Sohail had said that they had paid their income tax but the ministry still treated them as ineligible for grant of Hajj quota. They said the ministry had also refused to issue them clearance certificates. The petitioners said that they had approached the ministry several times but were ignored.

They requested the court to order the ministry to award them (petitioners) Hajj quotas. The chief justice directed the ministry to allocate hajj quotas to the petitioners given that they were not income tax defaulters.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2012.