Report on Andhra court order "that the state cannot fund any pilgrimages"

The Times of India

State can’t fund pilgrimages: High Court

TNN 23 July 2009, 04:38am IST

HYDERABAD: Just two months before the Haj season is to begin, a verdict of the AP High Court on Wednesday, which held that the state cannot fund
any pilgrimages, sent the YSR government into a tizzy.

Responding to two PILs challenging the government’s order allocating Rs 2 crore for Christians to undertake a pilgrimage to holy sites including Jerusalem, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Anil Ramesh Dave and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan set aside the GO No 29 issued on July 21, 2008. While petitioners Satish Agarwal and G Raghava Reddy wanted the GO to be quashed on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, the second PIL wanted similar facilities to be extended to Hindus going on a pilgrimage to Mansarovar, etc.

The bench, however, made it clear that though the petitioners questioned only the state sponsorship of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, their order was not limited to it. “Our order covers every religion. We will not allow the tax-payers money to be spent on such activities,” the Bench ruled.

Legal sources told TOI that this order would jeopardise AP’s Haj plans. In fact, after the Bench gave its verdict, additional advocate general A Satya Prasad had submitted to the court that Haj falls within the purview of the Haj Committee Act 2002, which is a central Act. “Hence, the court cannot pass an order without hearing the Centre on the issue,” he said. However, the Bench said it would consider this matter during further hearings.

For this year’s Haj, the state has been allotted a quota of 6,222 pilgrims with another 150 on the waiting list. Some lawyers were of the view that the HC order would not affect the Haj. “The subsidy given for the pilgrimage to Mecca is a central subject and therefore it cannot be affected,” said Shafeeq Rahman Mahajir, a lawyer specialising on minority issues. The Centre spends about Rs 400 crore every year on pilgrims going on Haj from India.

But, state government legal sources said the HC order had wider ramifications. “While the state does not directly fund the Haj as such, it shortlists the pilgrims every year, and looks after all their arrangements including their boarding and lodging at the Haj House in Hyderabad. The state spends up to Rs 50 lakh every year in providing these facilities. Now, as per the HC order, we will not be able to do it,” said sources.

Realising the gravity of the issue, the government sought a written copy of the order by Wednesday evening itself so that it can mull further action, including going in for an immediate appeal in the Supreme Court. “However, the court informed us that the order will be ready only by tomorrow evening or the day after,” Satya Prasad said.