ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday overruled the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) verdict on the suspension of Hajj Policy 2011 and the cancellation of the Hajj quota.
The verdict was announced by a four member bench, headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, hearing the federation’s appeal and 17 other petitions filed by tour operators against the LHC verdict.
The petitioners had requested the apex court to set aside the LHC judgment of June 6 on the grounds that it would cause tremendous loss to tour operators and inconvenience some 90,000 pilgrims.
During the hearing Additional Attorney General KK Agha stated that courts should not interfere in administrative matters. He stated 90,000 pilgrims would be affected if Hajj Policy 2011 was cancelled.
The court directed the government to devise a transparent Hajj policy for next year.
The LHC had revoked the Hajj quota issued by the religious affairs ministry to private tour operators and had directed the ministry to reallocate it.
Through a short order on petitions against allocation of quota under Hajj Policy 2011, a full bench headed by LHC Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry had ruled that the clause in the new policy – which limits selection of Hajj Group Organisers (HGOs) to organisations which have provided services during last year’s Hajj or the ones preceding it – was illegal.