Out of capacity: SC annuls lower court’s decision on Hajj quota

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday annulled an earlier decision taken by the Lahore High Court (LHC) regarding allotment in the Hajj quota case stating that without a violation judiciary should not intervene in an executive domain.

Hearing the case, the three-member bench, held that the ministry of Hajj should continue to regulate the Hajj operations, allocation of quota and short listing of tour operators in light of fair and transparent policy,  guidelines for which will be given in the detailed judgment.

The bench in its judgement said ‘these appeals are allowed with a declaration that we hold the order of LHC is in violation of trichotomy of powers that is one of the foundations of the Constitution’.

The judge said it is not the function of the high court to interfere into the policy-making domain of the executive. The bench also made it clear that the high court can only annul an executive’s decision under Article 199 if it is in violation of the Constitution or the law or a product of a mala fide.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2013.