Hajj Quota: Religious affairs ministry challenged

A private Hajj company alleged that the criteria adopted by religious affairs ministry to was unfair.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to the religious affairs ministry on a plea challenging the formula adopted by the ministry to reduce the pilgrims’ quota for private Hajj tour operators. Safeenahtul Hujjaj International, a private Hajj tour operator, filed a petition alleging that the criteria adopted by religious affairs ministry to reduce pilgrims’ quota for the private tour operators was unfair. The lawyer said that following the cuts in the country’s total quota by Saudi Arabia, the government decided to reduce the private operators’ quota by 60 per cent of the total number of pilgrims while the government would bear 40 per cent of the cuts. The petitioner pleaded the court direct the government bear 60 per cent reduction instead.  Justice Irfan Saadat Khan issued notices to the religious affairs ministry, director Hajj for Sindh and deputy attorney general to file their comments by July 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2013.