ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court set aside on Monday a July 15 order of the Lahore High Court (LHC), restoring this year’s Haj Policy which allows private Haj tour operators to benefit from an additional quota of 15,000 pilgrims.

“For reasons to be recorded later, the appeals (against the LHC order) are accepted and the order is set aside,” announced a two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk.

The court had taken up the appeals filed by the federal government and the Haj Organisers Association of Pakistan (HOAP).

It said any interference at this stage would harm the entire Haj operation set to commence from mid-August. In its July 15 verdict, the LHC had declared the Haj policy illegal to the extent of granting a quota of 15,000 pilgrims to private Haj tour operators.

This year’s Haj policy which allows private tour operators to benefit from an additional quota of 15,000 pilgrims restored

The quota was granted to the tour operators in line with a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the HOAP and the Ministry of Religious Affairs after Saudi Arabia reduced the quota by 20 per cent for each country concerned because of construction work in the Haram thus decreasing the number of intending pilgrims to 143,368 from 179,210 for last year’s Haj.

But the government retained 60pc quota for itself and granted the remaining 40pc to private tour operators with an understanding that the operators would be allowed to send 15,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in the next Haj season in addition to their quota.

The Monday’s order came against the backdrop of the apex court’s Oct 9, 2013 judgment in the Dossani Travels case, in which the then chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani had held that the LHC had no authority to interfere in the policymaking domain of the executive while exercising jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution because it violated the principle of trichotomy of powers, which was one of foundational principles of the Constitution.

The court had also explained the principle of trichotomy of powers between legislature, executive and judiciary and said the framing of the (Haj) policy was to be undertaken by the executive.

While disposing of the Dossani case, it had called for framing Haj policy in a fair and just manner, which should inspire confidence and evoke minimum criticism.

On Monday, Additional Attorney General Atiq Shah informed the court that the religious affair ministry had registered 2,772 Haj tour operators and 740 of them had been granted Haj quota on merit.

He said this year’s Haj policy envisaged a Haj quota of 143,368, of which a quota of 57,368 had been reserved for the government Haj scheme and 86,020 – including the additional 15,000 –for the private scheme or Haj Group Organisers (HGO). The high court verdict had paralysed the policy, he complained.

Advocate Mohammad Azhar Siddique, representing 11 new tour operators to whom Haj quota had been denied, defended the LHC verdict and alleged that the Haj policy was a product of mala fide (intentions). It has not yet been approved by the cabinet in term of Rule 16(2) & 17 of the Rules of Business.

He argued that the deduction of 15,000 pilgrims from the government Haj scheme was an act of exploitation because the quota was meant for poor people who intended to perform Haj at the government Haj scheme rate of Rs250,000.

On behalf of his clients, Advocate Siddique said, he would file a review petition against the Monday’s Supreme Court order and also challenge the Haj policy in the court.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd , 2014