ISLAMABAD, 22 JUNE, (DNA) – Snapping selfies with self-proclaimed model and singer Qandeel Baloch has proved too costly for Mufti Abdul Qavi whose Ruet-e-Hilal Committee membership has been suspended by the Ministry of Religious Affairs Wednesday.

The decision was taken two days after a video and selfies of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee member with social media sensation Qandeel Baloch took the internet by storm.

The ministry has also directed the Ulema and Mashaikh Council to initiate inquiry against the Mufti.

Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee of Pakistan is the department which announces the sighting of the new moon. The committee was set up in 1974 under a resolution passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan, and so far no rules and regulations for the functioning of the committee have been drafted in writing.

Earlier on Tuesday, during a Senate Standing Committee on Religious Affairs session, Senator Hafiz Hamdullah of JUI-F took a dig at Mufti Qavi, stating that Qandeel Baloch should also join the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.

“If we can have Mufti Qavi in the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, I think we can have Qandeel Baloch in this team as well,” he said.

In the pictures, Qandeel could be seen donning Mufti Qavi‘s hat while he is busy talking on the phone.

Talking to media on Tuesday, Mufti Qavi told that it was Qandeel herself who had expressed her wish to meet him in Karachi. “She wanted to have a meeting in order to get rid of a magic spell,” he said.

Meanwhile, Qandeel maintained that Mufti Qavi was the one who expressed his wish to meet her.

“Why would I ask for a meeting with him… in fact, he had told me during a TV program that he would like to lay his eyes on my face before witnessing the moon of Ramazan,” she said. =DNA

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