Hajj tours: Report on blacklisted firms sought

LAHORE: Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought a report from the federal government by September 7 on Hajj tour operators that have been blacklisted. The petitioners have accused the Ministry of Religious Affairs of not allocating Hajj quotas to new tour operators. The petitioners’ counsel suggested that a Hajj authority should be set up to allocate quotas to end “the monopoly of old operators”. The chief justice directed the deputy attorney general to submit a report about the companies blacklisted by the ministry. Qualified operators should approach the ministry, the judge observed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2012.