CJP says stakeholders and private operators should
have been taken into confidence while changing quota; even when a step is taken in good faith, it is viewed with suspicion due to lack of confidence in institutions
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the Haj Policy 2016 and restored 50 percent
quota each of government and
private Haj
operators with the observation that the government should have taken the stakeholders and
private Haj
operators into confidence while changing the quota.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali, an**unced a short order in the appeals filed by the
private Haj
operators against the Sindh High Court (SHC) April 16 judgment that turned down their request for res-
toring their
quota of 50 percent.
In the new Haj policy,
private Haj operators’
quota was reduced from 50% to 40% but the
private operators did **t accept the policy and challenged it in the Sindh High Court.They requested the court to increase their Haj
quota but their plea was rejected by the court against which they filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.
According to the new Haj policy, 2016, some 143,000 pilgrims would perform Haj.On Tuesday, the apex court after hearing the learned counsel for the petitioners and law ******rs of the Federation an**unced a short order, restoring the
quota earlier fixed for the government and
private Haj
operators 50 percent each.
“Reasons to be recorded separately and the petitions are converted into appeals and allowed in the terms that
quota of
private and public sector restored to that which was earlier fixed as 50 percent each,” the court an**unced in a short order.Soon after the an**uncement of the court, a large number of
private Haj
tour operators, clad in white suits with white caps present in the courtroom **1, began to congratulate each other with
jubilant gestures and appreciated their respective lawyers, including Muhammad
Akram Sheikh and Abid Zubairi.Earlier, during the course of hearing, Abid Zubairi, counsel for some
private Haj operators, questioned the constitution of a committee if the government itself had to formulate the Haj policy.
The court asked as to why the government felt the need for changing the provision of
quota for the public and
private Haj
operators when earlier the Haj operations remained successful with 50 percent
quota each.
Muhammad Akram Sheikh, counsel for some
private Haj operators, told the court that the government made the changes with mala fide intentions.Rana Waqar, Additional Attorney General, however, submitted before the court that there was an intensive demand from both the houses of parliament and the general public for increasing the government
quota from 50 to 60 percent.
He pleaded that there was ** mala fide intention on the part of the government in increasing its
quota from 50 to 60 percent and reducing the
quota of
private Haj
operators from 50 to 40 percent. He said the step was taken in order to accommodate the maximum pilgrims, providing cheaper Haj packages.
He said that it was the fundamental constitutional obligation of the state to have mo**poly and the government did **t take the step with mala fide intention.Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, however, observed that before making changes in the quota, the government should have taken all the stakeholders and
private Haj
operators into confidence.
He observed that due to lack of confidence among the institutions when a step was taken by an institution even in good faith, it was seen with suspicion.
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