SC refuses an appeal against HC stay on Haj Group Organisers

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain an appeal filed by the Centre challenging the order of the Delhi High Court staying the suspension of registration certificates and quota of several Haj Group Organisers.

A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and M M Sundresh said the matter is coming up before the high court on July 7 and all the issues can be looked into by it.

Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Centre, submitted that if the pilgrims are booked with the delinquent Haj Group Organisers (HGO), they will face a lot of difficulty.

“If these HGOs are not up to the mark, the pilgrims will face difficulties in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Haj for Muslims is not merely a holiday but a medium of practising their religion and faith which is a fundamental right, the high court had said.

The registration and quota of such HGOs, which act as tour operators for pilgrims, was kept in abeyance by the Centre last month after they were found to be ineligible on various grounds, including willful misrepresentation of facts based on which they were registered as HGOs in the first place.

The high court on June 7, while dealing with petitions by over 13 such HGOs, said it was concerned with the pilgrims who intend to travel on Haj and have paid in advance to the petitioners for the five-day religious pilgrimage to Mecca and nearby holy places in Saudi Arabia.

It had observed that the Haj pilgrimage and its ceremonies fell within the ambit of a religious practice, which is protected by the Constitution, and the court was the protector of that right.