Haj Pilgrims Should Only Be Handled By Persons Not Accused Of 'Deceiving' Others: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that Hajis being very pious pilgrims should be handled only by persons who do not have allegations of swindling or deceiving people on them.

Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the Haj Policy states that the Central Government has the right to debar the Haj Group Organizers (HGOs) against whom complaints have been received and who are involved with the pilgrims.

The court made the observations while dismissing a plea moved by Al Islam Tour Corporation challenging Centre's order blacklisting it for a period of 10 years, with effect from Haj 2021.

The action was taken after a Haj pilgrim made a complaint alleging that the petitioner defrauded him in 2013, took Rs. 13 lakh but did not return the money on cancelling his pilgrimage.

Rejecting the plea, the court noted that the Petitioner was not registered as a HGO for Haj 2018 and thus, it ought not to have engaged in any kind of activity related to Haj without the registration.

“Normally for a poor person Haj is a once in a lifetime pilgrimage and majority of persons in India spend their entire life savings to perform Haj. In order to ensure that the Indian citizens do not face any difficulties, the Government of India oversees the entire Haj Pilgrimage. Every country is allotted a Haj Quota by the KSA and only limited number of pilgrims are allowed from every country,” the court said.

It added that majority of the pilgrims from India visit KSA for performing Haj after getting permission from the Haj Committee and that some Private Tour Operators, who are well experienced, have also been given permission to enable pilgrims to perform Haj. 

Looking at the object of Haj Pilgrimage and the purpose behind the Haj Policy as well as the complaint and the petitioner's conduct, the court said that the punishment imposed did not require to be modified.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Sulaiman Mohd. Khan, Ms. Taiba Khan, Mr. Bhanu Malhotra, Mr. Gopeshwar Singh Chander, Mr. Shamaul Haq Khan and Mr. Abdul Bari Khan, Advocates

Counsel for Respondent: Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSC

Title: AL ISLAM TOUR CORPORATION v. UNION OF INDIA

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 496

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