NEW DELHI, May 8:
The Supreme Court today directed the Government to phase out Haj subsidy within a period of 10 years, saying that this amount can be more profitably used for social and educational development of the Muslim community.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai quoted Quran to justify doing away with the subsidy, which was around Rs 685 crores in 2011, noting that many Muslims would not be very “comfortable” to know that their Haj is funded to a large extent by the Government.
“We are also not oblivious of the fact that in many other purely religious events there are direct and indirect deployment of state funds and state resources. Nevertheless, we are of the view that Haj subsidy is something that is best done away with,” the bench said.
The Centre at present foots an amount of Rs.38,000 per Haji by giving subsidised airfare.
The bench fixed a time frame of ten years for gradually eliminating subsidies to Haj pilgrims. Last year, about 1.25 lakh pilgrims went for Haj.
“We, therefore, direct the Central Government to progressively reduce the amount of subsidy so as to completely eliminate it within a period of 10 years from today. The subsidy money may be more profitably used for upliftment of the community in education and other indices of social development,” the bench observed.
“This Court has no claim to speak on behalf of all the Muslims of the country and it will be presumptuous for us to try to tell the Muslims what is for them a good or bad religious practice.
“Nevertheless, we have no doubt that a very large majority of Muslims applying to the Haj Committee for going to Haj would not be aware of the economics of their pilgrimage and if all the facts are made known a good many of the pilgrims would not be very comfortable in the knowledge that their Haj is funded to a substantial extent by the Government,” the bench said.
The bench also directed that the practice of sending Government’s representative with the Haj delegation must be stopped.
“We fully appreciate the idea of the people of India extending their goodwill to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the auspicious occasion of Haj but we completely fail to see how even that purpose can be served by sending such a large, unwieldy, amorphous and randomly selected delegation. On a careful consideration of the issue we are quite clear that the present practice of sending Goodwill Haj Delegation must come to stop,” the bench said.
It further said that the Centre can send a leader and a deputy leader in the course of Haj to send a message of goodwill to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The bench said that Government had started sending Goodwill Delegation to meet the anti-India propaganda which is not needed at present and now it is used for other purposes.
“It is no secret that after the 1965 war Pakistan tried to use even the Haj pilgrimage for anti-India propaganda and the purpose of sending the Goodwill Delegation was to meet the anti-India propaganda.
“The reason for which the delegation was first sent has long ceased to exist and Pakistan is no longer sending any official Goodwill Haj Delegation to Saudi Arabia. It may, however, be contended that with the passage of time the purpose of the delegation has changed and in the changed circumstances the delegation serves other objects and purpose,” the bench said.
The court said that there is no “reasonable basis” for the nomination to the Goodwill Delegation of around 27 people which “evidently” works on patronage and granting of favours.
“From the list of the members of the Goodwill Delegation for a period of 10 years no rational basis is discernible for selecting members for the delegation. The list shows a disparate group of persons randomly put together from various professions and walks of life.
“What is more surprising is that there are some people who were able to go as member of the Goodwill Delegation more than once, some even three or four times. In the absence of a reasonable basis the nomination to the Goodwill Delegation evidently works on patronage and granting of favours,” it said.
The bench also asked the Government to furnish details on how its quota is allocated to applicants on recommendation by dignitaries and eminent persons saying that “We have some initial reservations on allocation of seats on recommendation by dignitaries and eminent persons”.
“We direct the Union of India to file further affidavit stating in greater detail the way the quota of 11,000 seats is being allocated for 2012 Haj. We would also like to know in greater detail the procedure followed by the Haj Committee of India and the state Haj committees in making selection for sending pilgrims for Haj,” the bench said.
It said that it would “specially” like to examine the functioning of the Haj Committees of the States where the number of applicants exceed the quota allotted for the state.
“We direct the Haj Committee of India to file a detailed affidavit giving full details of the process of selection of pilgrims from the applications made to the State Haj Committees. The affidavit should also give details of the charges realized from the pilgrims and the facilities made available to them,” the bench said. (PTI)
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