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Summary
Former DG Hajj operations Rao Shakeel on Thursday admitted mismanagement in Hajj arrangements in the SC, while the Ministry of Religious Affairs submitted the record of 630 Hajj tour operators in the court. A7-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chuadhry began hearing of a suo moto notice of Hajj corruption scandal. Former DG Rao Shakeel filed his written reply in the court, stating that the hiring he made from April to June was on merit and after that no person was inducted; the lodgings for the pilgrims were just two kilometers away from the Harram. When the CJP asked Rao that how come he got appointed as DG for there are many NAB cases on him. You took extra 700 riyals from the Hujjaj and made their accommodations on the mountains and you also hired Ahmed Faiz illegally, the CJ maintained while addressing Shakeel. The hearing has been adjourned till Dec 13 (Monday). I will present evidence in court on Monday, says SwatiHailing the SC for its notice of the Hajj corruption scandal, Federal Minister for Science & Technology Azam Khan Swati has said that he would present the evidence in this respect in the apex court on Monday (Dec 13). Had I resigned, no minister has got the guts to bring such a huge corruption to light, the minister said. He said that he is not interested in retaining the ministership, My ministry is people of Pakistan and my silence would have been a crime towards the nation. The poor pilgrims have been ripped off but whoever is involved in corruption has to face the music, Swati maintained.
