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SC for recovering money from pilgrims sent on official expense

ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday directed the federal government to recover within one week money from all pilgrims who were paid from the national exchequer.

By Afzal Khan

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Published: Sun 10 Apr 2011, 12:21 AM

Last updated: Tue 19 May 2020, 5:54 PM

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohmmed Chaudhry, while heading a six-member bench, also directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to launchcriminal cases against those who assisted in the scam as well as flouted the rules and regulations by sending 270 persons to perform Haj.
The FIA submitted a report to the SC which revealed that a largenumber of pilgrims were sent for Haj by the Ministry of Religious Affairs for free.
According to the report, the Interior Ministry also wrote a letter tothe Ministry of Religious Affairs for sending officials to perform Haj.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said that anyone trying to cover up the scam was an accomplice in the corruption case.
The chief justice also observed that the Haj scam investigation hadbeen spoiled by former Director-General (DG) of FIA Waseem Ahmed.
Meanwhile, the government has abolished the system of random draws for Haj, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Khursheed Shah said here.
He said that the applications for Haj will be accepted from April 10 to April 30, 2011.
mafzalkhan@yahoo.com

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