The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the government to approve the Haj policy for 2017 within seven days.

A three-member bench of the apex court was hearing a petition registered by tour operators, which states that although a new policy has been submitted to the prime minister, it had not been approved yet.

Until the policy is approved, the new operators will not be able to receive their licences, the petition added.

The bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, said that if the government failed to approve the policy in due time, the court wold take it upon itself to give approval.

The court ordered that a draft of the policy should be submitted to the apex court's registrar.

During the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Sohail Mehmood informed the court that a summary of the new policy is available with the prime minister.

"No decision can be made till the policy is submitted before us," the court said.

"The Ministry of Religious Affairs does not prepare policies every year in accordance with the decisions of the Supreme Court," the lawyer representing Haj tours told the court.

Justice Qazi Faiz, a member of the bench, said that the government would purposefully finalise the policy at the last moment.

"Why is the Haj policy being kept hidden?" the judged asked. "Does the prime minister do everything in this country? What does the government do?"