Hajj Quota: LHC CJ outlines prerequisites

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday ordered the Ministry of Religious Affairs to allot quota to those Hajj group organisers who had offered Rs190,000 to Rs247,000 per pilgrim packages.

The chief justice adjourned the hearing till Monday and told the ministry to update the court about the progress made in this regard. The chief justice told the ministry to allocate 910 pilgrims to the 18 Hajj group organisers. The court ordered that an Hajj group organiser must have minimum three years experience to be eligible for the quota.

The court is hearing several petitions by Hajj group organisers. Earlier, petitioners’ Advocate Azhar Siddique had said most operators in the ministry list had no previous experience and some of them did not even own offices.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2013.