Hajj 2012: Minister given 24 hours to allot Hajj quota

LHC directs Khurshid Shah to issue 190 seats to four eligible Hajj tour operators.

LAHORE:

Issuing a stern warning in case of inaction, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday ordered Minister for Religious Affairs Khurshid Shah to allot quota of the remaining 190 out of the 540 pilgrims to four eligible Hajj tour operators within 24 hours.

LHC Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial issued the order as the religious affairs minister, along with other Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders, appeared before the court on a contempt of court notice issued to him for not allotting the remaining quota as per court directives and using delaying tactics to lapse the deadline.

Federal Ministers Qamar Zaman Kaira, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich and MNA Sardar Ghazanfar had accompanied Shah to the court during Tuesday’s proceedings. Earlier, the CJ had summoned Shah in person for flouting court orders.

When the LHC chief justice asked Shah why he failed to allot the remaining Hajj quota to new tour operators, Shah replied that the religious affairs ministry wanted to challenge the LHC order before the Supreme Court. The LHC CJ told Shah that the time to challenge LHC’s orders had already lapsed and now the ministry cannot challenge their ruling.

Shah was told that when he took over the portfolio of the ministry, he was committed to giving the quota purely based on merit. In response, the minister said being a politician he was under immense pressure as everyone wanted to receive the quota — insisting that the quota had been allotted as per the orders of the Balochistan High Court, Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court.

The LHC bench stated that incompetent officials of the ministry were not ensuring merit-based allotment. Meanwhile, petitioners’ counsel Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique alleged that Shah was not willing to allot the quota because of his “mala fide intentions”.

After hearing the arguments, the CJ warned Shah: “The courts want to get their decisions implemented. If its decisions are not implemented, law will take its own course.”

Consequently, Shah told the bench that the remaining quota of 190 would be allotted to 19 operators. But CJ Bandial replied that they should allot the quota to only four operator companies who have deposited Rs500,000 as security and have enough experience of dealing with the matter.

Despite repeated requests of extension in the deadline, the CJ ordered the ministry to ensure that the remaining quota is issued within 24 hours and asked for a detailed report.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2012.