PUNE, India, 3 October 2007 — The Maharashtra government has instructed the police to clear urgently the background verification of pilgrims intending to do Haj this year. This followed complaints from the Muslim community that the police in the state were delaying clearance essential for obtaining a passport to travel to Saudi Arabia.
Saleem Shaikh, a social activist, drew attention to these delays. According to Shaikh, police verifications of Haj pilgrims are taking too much time, with forms piling up in police stations. Some pilgrims have already canceled their Haj plans because of this, he said.
Shaikh has taken up the matter with the additional chief secretary, who in turn issued directives to the state director general of police, police commissioners, range inspectors general of police and other officials directing them to send police verification reports expeditiously to all respective passport offices in the state.
In another development, the Maharashtra government appointed retired Sessions Judge Atak Shaikh as a one-member inquiry commission to probe the irregularities of Waqf Board properties. The appointment was in line with the assurance given by state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to the state legislature in the last session that an investigation into the charges of irregularities would be conducted by a retired judge.
The government had requested that the Bombay High Court recommend the name of a retired judge of the high court or district courts to head the committee. The registrar of the high court informed the state’s Law and Judiciary Department that the chief justice of the Bombay High Court has approved the name of Atak Shaikh to head the inquiry commission.
