An Islamabad court on Friday sentenced former federal minister for religious affairs, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, 16 years in jail in the Hajj corruption case.
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According to our correspondent, the Special Judge Central Malik Nazeer issued the verdict, sentencing PPP government minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi to 16 years and Rao Shakeel 40 years in prison.
The convicts can appeal against the court decision in Islamabad High Court.
After the sentence was pronounced, Kazmi and Aftab were arrested from the court premises and escorted to Adiala Jail by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials, while Shakeel is already in custody of the National Accountability Bureau in Lahore, reports Dawn.
The court delivered its ruling after six years of hearings into the hajj scandal. After this, a case was registered leading to Kazmi’s arrest on March 15, 2011.
Former religious affairs minister among those who forced 85,000 haj pilgrims to pay extra money for staying in Saudi Arabia.
Along with Kazmi, former joint secretary Raja Aftabul Islam was sentenced to 16 years in prison while ex-Hajj director-general Rao Shakeel was sentenced to 40 years in jail on additional charges.
Former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had taken suo moto notice of the alleged corruption in Haj arrangements in 2010 upon the letter of a Saudi prince.
Former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had sacked both Kazmi and Swati from their offices.
The men were indicted for renting substandard buildings at inflated prices to Pakistani Hajj pilgrims, for which they received sizeable kickbacks.
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Each year, more than 150,000 Pakistanis performed the haj which is considered a religious obligation for Muslims.
