Hajj pilgrims free to choose airline: SC

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court order which ruled that pilgrims intent on going to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj could choose any airline.
Chamber judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the government seeking stay on the HC order.
On April 24, the civil aviation ministry decided that only Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines would carry Bangladesh's 1.27 lakh hajj pilgrims this year.
Challenging the decision's legality, Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (Haab) Vice-President Abdul Kabir Khan and Secretary General Sheikh Abdullah and one pilgrim, Rezaul Islam, filed a writ petition on July 29.
That day the HC heard the petition, passed the order and issued a rule upon the government to explain in four weeks why the decision should not be declared illegal.
Yesterday, Haab President Md Ibrahim Bahar at a press conference in Haab's office urged the ministry not to challenge the HC directive.