Court stops MHA from implementing policy on Haj tour operators till Sept 23

“Policies cannot be changed overnight. Matters of this kind — pertaining to pilgrimage — should be transparent. What does 250 sq feet carpet area have to do with pilgrimage?” Justice PB Majmudar asked.

In their petition filed through lawyer Mubin Solkar,Bakhla and AIHTOA had contended that 170 tour operators,who stand to lose their source of income through this notification,cater to over 10,000 Haj pilgrims. “The operators have already made bookings and made all arrangements for which nearly Rs 50 crore have already been remitted. This comes as a major blow,” Bakhla’s petition states. Solkar informed the court that the first batch of pilgrims was scheduled to leave on September 29. The AIHUTOA stated they were not even heard by the ministry prior to issuing such a notification.

The court asked the MHA why it could not have implemented the notification next year. “In our view,in a society governed by the rule of law,any notice or policy affecting the public should be published widely so that anyone can challenge it in advance. We are surprised as to why this policy was not published in advance and why it cannot be applied next year,” Justice Majmudar and Justice RM Sawant said.

The ministry’s lawyer,Advait Sethna,told the court that the ministry had issued a press release regarding the notification in advance. He said some decisions are also taken by the MHA’s counterparts in Saudi Arabia according to the bilateral agreement with them. Justice Sawant,however,said they may be regulating the number of pilgrims in one batch but not the size of their tour operators’ offices.