LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has contradicted a news item, published in a section of the press, that it allowed Shia women to perform Hajj (pilgrimage) without mehram.
According to an LHC press release issued here on Tuesday, the LHC adjourned the petition for allowing the Shia women to perform Hajj without mehram till October 14 and it neither had given interim relief to the petitioner in this regard nor allowed the Shia women to perform Hajj without mehram.
As per the court’s order, the news published in various national dailies regarding this are not based on facts, it added. Justice Ayesha A Malik heard the petition wherein the Director Hajj sought time to produce the record as required by the court on the last date of hearing.
A deputy attorney general requested that a list might be provided to the respondents with names of specific female candidates belonging to the Shia Fiqah (sect), who applied for Hajj and were not able to go for Hajj, as per the arguments of the petitioner’s counsel.
The DAG further stated that accordingly the department would verify whether there was any provision to facilitate such candidates on the basis of available quota with the tour operators and the prevailing policy.
The court relisted the case for October 14 and ordered to attach the civil miscellaneous application with the main case.