Phase out Haj subsidy in 10 years,SC tells govt

The court said the rising cost of the pilgrimage was draining the exchequer,and the money spent on tickets could be “more profitably used for the up-liftment of the community in education and other indices of social development”.

“This Court has no claim to speak on behalf of all the Muslims of the country and it will be presumptuous for us to try to tell the Muslims what is for them a good or bad religious practice,” the order,dictated by Justice Alam,read.

“Nevertheless,we have no doubt that a very large majority of Muslims applying to the Haj Committee for going to Haj would not be aware of the economics of their pilgrimage and if all the facts are made known a good many of the pilgrims would not be very comfortable in the knowledge that their Haj is funded to a substantial extent by the government,” the court observed.

The court noted that the Supreme Court had found the subsidy to be “constitutionally valid”,and that many other purely religious events were financed by the state; “nevertheless,we are of the view that Haj subsidy is something that is best done away with”.

The bench said that as subsidy is cut,pilgrims would turn more to private tour operators,and a more nuanced policy for their registration would be needed.

The court also directed the government,represented in court by Attorney General G E Vahanvati and advocate Haris Beeran,to stop sending goodwill Haj delegations.