SC: Hajj pilgrims may choose their preferred airliners

A four-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha scrapped a government appeal that challenged the verdict. The High Court verdict, came in February 2014 in response to a writ petition, also declared illegal a government decision of sending the pilgrims via two airliners only – Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Saudia Airlines. The petition was filed by Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), while a hajj aspirant challenged the legality of the government decision in July 2013. It claimed that the government’s decision was unconstitutional, arbitrary and against the spirit of the competition law, and also put the hajj aspirants in dilemma. The two airliners were fixed by the government on April 24, 2013.