In the case titled Kerala State Haj Committee vs Union of India, the petitioner had raised five major concerns with respect to the new Haj guidelines published by the Haj Committee of India.
Attorney General KK Venugopal submitted that state committees are entitled to look into it and it is the responsibility of state to do so. Prashant Bhushan said the policies made by central government.
The AG said these rules were made after consulting state committees. There are a total of 127 Haj committees in India. These have a large number of members.
Bhushan said the government of Saudi Arabia granted 1.75 lakh Haj seats for India. The chart shows that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have the largest number of Muslims. In Bihar, 12,000 seats were allotted. And the applicants number 5,000. In Kerala, there are 5,000 seats and the total applications number 19,000. So the allotment of seats should be based on the “desire of going for Haj and not on the basis of the population”.
The bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked the centre to reply to this suggestion.
Venugopal said he will file a reply within one week.
Bhushan also pointed out that 30 percent of the quota goes to private tour operators who charge double the usual amount. He also said they can do a draw of lots for the national level.
The bench directed the centre to file the reply within two weeks, but without fail. The next hearing is on January 19.