CJ takes notice of Saudi letter on Hajj corruption

[pkpatriotic]

CJ takes notice of Saudi letter on Hajj corruption
Wednesday, November 03, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) has taken notice of the letter written to Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry by a Saudi prince relating to the alleged embezzlements committed in allotment of accommodations to Pakistani Hajj pilgrims in Makkah Moazzimah, Geo News reported.

Upon the letter, the apex court has taken suo motto notice and has, all the same, summoned the Federal Ministry for Religious Affairs to submit explanation in court.

In a letter written by Saudi prince Bandar Bin Khalid Bin Sultan from his personal office, it is informed that his company offered Pakistani authorities the accommodations for pilgrims; costing only 33.50 Saudi Riyal while the location was 2 kilometer away from Haram Sharif.

But contrary to this offer, the concerned authorities in Pakistan opted for expensive accommodations in order to bag huge profits, the letter said.

It stated that the chosen places for accommodation of Hajj pilgrims are much far away from Haram Sharif than those of which we offered and it too costs 3600 riyals each.

Subsequently, CJ Chaudhry, having taken suo motto notice of the letter, has summoned Federal Ministry for Religious Affairs to submit explanation within 15 working days, sources said.

 

[Hyde]

lol CJ ne sahi watt laga di authorities ki

Go on CJ, nanga karo inko

Jo log Hajiyoun ko bhi choona laga rahay hain, lanat hai un per

 

[somebozo]

There is huge disparity of figures are ..33.50 vs 3600???

I am not aware of any hajj accomodation costing 3600 per hajji???

appears like Mr. prince has a real estate business in Makkah which most of them do anyway and is pissed off due to his offer being turned down.

 

[Hyde]

There is huge disparity of figures are ..33.50 vs 3600???

I am not aware of any hajj accomodation costing 3600 per hajji???

appears like Mr. prince has a real estate business in Makkah which most of them do anyway and is pissed off due to his offer being turned down.

and I am not aware of any accommodation costing 33.50 riyals only
but I do know an accommodation costing more than 3600 riyals

 

[Tayyab1796]

figures might have been misquoted but I m sure the letter states the offer made and the advantages it had for our Hajiis .

What's very interesting (rather shameful for the Government of Pakistan) that a Saudi prince instead of writting the letter to Prime Minister or the President is writting to the CJ (its unprecedented) to look into the matter . This represents the trust even Saudis have on our present Government's ability to conduct even a simple investigation ....NRO democracy thanks to you ...

 

[devil'sadvocate]

There is huge disparity of figures are ..33.50 vs 3600???

I am not aware of any hajj accomodation costing 3600 per hajji???

appears like Mr. prince has a real estate business in Makkah which most of them do anyway and is pissed off due to his offer being turned down.

I think someone misquoted the price...

ISLAMABAD: A Saudi prince has pointed out financial irregularities in the Hajj scheme of Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs in a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, in the letter accused the minister for Religious Affairs of embezzlement and has recommended that the court take notice of the issue.
Under the Religious Affairs’ ministry’s Hajj scheme, the pilgrims were charged more for the residences rented by the ministry near Makkah and Madina, the letter states.
Prince Khalid said that the ministry rented residences for pilgrims during Hajj for up to 3,600 riyals while the prices are actually around 1,500 riyals, adding that he had offered lower rates to the ministry but his quotation was rejected.
The Supreme Court has taken suo-moto notice of the issue and the Apex Court has asked for a reply from the ministry within 15 days.
However, the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, while addressing a National Assembly session earlier today (Wednesday) said that he had not been made aware of the letter by his ministry.
Kazmi said that he had not received a notification from the court.
Meanwhile, a three-member committee, on the directives of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, has been formed to probe the allegeations of misappropriation of funds by the Religious Affairs ministry.
Earlier, the Senate and Parliamentary Committee on Religious Affairs expressed their reservations over the costly residences.
The DG Hajj, Rao Shakeel, was also called back over corruption charges of millions of rupees and suspended by the federal government on the advice of the committee.

Saudi prince accuses Religious Affairs Ministry of embezzlement – The Express Tribune

 

[jehangirhaider]

Besides hujaj are spending more money on residence, actual problem is distance from the harem sharif, which is 3.5 km , where as that Saudi prince was offering residence at 2 km away from Harem Sharif.

1.5 km is too much for the hujaj to travel on daily bases, as most of the hujaj are very old, so its means they have to travel 1.5*2=3km more for single trip to harem sharif. Suppose that on daily bases they made 3 round trips to harem sharif then they have to travel 9 km more.To much for the old people.

There are limits of corruption , but our people have crossed those. Allah bless us.

 

[mughaljee]

where is mr Hamid Saeed Kazmi ?

 

[pkpatriotic]

Letter from Saudi prince fake: govt
Wednesday, November 03, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs said the letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan from a Saudi prince, is fake, Geo News reported Wednesday.

Secretary Religious Affairs Agha Sarwar Qazalbash said there is massive mafia operating in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which could possibly be involved in the letter writing.

He said the mafia could have written the letter to the CJ on finding their interests unfulfilled.

Qazalbash said two people, in the garb of spokesmen of Saudi prince, turned up to him during his visit to the kingdom and offered him expensive accommodations, adding when their offer was jettisoned, they wrote the letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan on getting their offer dashed.

The secretary said the present accommodations have been availed at rent worth 1400 to 1600 riyals, contrasting earlier accommodations which were taken on rent worth even 2500 riyals.
Agha remarked that pilgrims are being refunded with the amount, which went surplus owing to the inexpensive accommodations.

Meantime, the Foreign Ministry has been sought to verify the veracity of the letter in question.

 

[mughaljee]

Trust on abroad not on the government of Pakistan but
CJ