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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to explain how the quota of 125,000 for the Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia was distributed among various state committees and also the manner in which the Union government allotted the 6,000-odd quota retained by it every year. A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana P Desai asked the Centre about the rationality of the PM's Goodwill Delegation for Haj every year and wanted to know the procedure adopted for selection of this delegation in the last 10 years. Appearing for the Centre, attorney general G E Vahanvati and advocate Haris Beeran informed the court that the government will sign a fresh agreement on Haj with Saudi Arabia on March 14 and a fresh policy could be framed thereafter. The court posted the matter for hearing on April 16. The court that according to the Haj Policy of 2011, 1,70,451 pilgrims were allowed to perform Haj, out of which approximately 1,25,000 were sent through the quota distributed among various state Haj committees and rest through private tour operators. Of the 1,25,000 pilgrims, the government retained 6,761 seats and 1,18,23 seats remained with the Haj committees to be distributed proportionally to the number of applicants from each state. The court wanted to know the criteria of allocation of seats to each state Haj committee. It also asked the Centre to explain details of the subsidy given to each pilgrim, how it was quantified, the genesis of the grant of subsidy and its total cost. The court sought details of the selection and number of persons accommodated every year in the PM's Goodwill Delegation for the last decade. |
| SOURCE: The Times of India |
