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The High Court has questioned the legality of the high Hajj package cost announced by the government for the year of 2024. It has issued a rule asking the respondents to explain as to why the Hajj package announced by the government for the year of 2024 should not be declared illegal.
The High Court bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah passed the order on Monday after hearing a writ petition that sought its directives for re-fixing the price of the Hajj package announced by the government.
Religious Affairs Secretary, Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary, Director General of the Islamic Foundation and Hajj Association of Bangladesh (HAB) have been asked to comply with the rule within two weeks.
The government on November 2 in 2023 declared its Hajj package for the session of 2024. The cost for a pilgrim was set at Tk 0.57 million as a general package and Tk 0.93 million as a special package. The plane fare will be Tk 0.19 million in both packages which was almost the same in the last year.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs on November 8 in 2023 issued a gazette in this regard. Ashraf-Uz-Zaman, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed a writ petition recently claiming that the government has added additional cost to the package.
Earlier on November 28 last year, the lawyer sent a legal notice asking the Ministry of Religious Affairs to reduce and re-fix in five days the cost of the hajj package within Tk 0.4 million per pilgrim.