Federation Haj PTOS of India v. Union of India

59 WITH + W.P.(C) 4888/2023 & CM APPLs. 18878/2023, 18879/2023 SUHAIL HAJ AND UMRAH TOURS..... Petitioner Through: Mr. Sulaiman Mohd Khan, Ms. Taiba Khan, Mr. Mohd. Ainul Ansari, Mr. Bhanu Malhotra, Mr. Akash Bhusan, Mr. Gopeshwar Singh Chandel, Advocates.

VERSUS

UNION OF INDIA..... Respondent Through: Mr. Chetan Sharma Ld, ASG with Mr. Mukul Singh, Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia. CGSC & Mr. TS Nanda, GP. 60 AND + W.P.(C) 4896/2023 & CM APPLs. 18891/2023, 18892/2023 PEERZADA TRAVELS..... Petitioner Through: Mr. Sulaiman Mohd Khan, Ms. Taiba Khan, Mr. Mohd. Ainul Ansari, Mr. Bhanu Malhotra, Mr. Akash Bhusan, 2023:DHC:2652 W.P.(C) 4885/2023 & connected matters Mr. Gopeshwar Singh Chandel, Advocates.

VERSUS

UNION OF INDIA..... Respondent Through: Mr. Chetan Sharma Ld, ASG with Mr. Mukul Singh, Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia. CGSC & Mr. TS Nanda, GP. CORAM: JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. These are three petitions relating to allotment of quota for Haj-2023.

3. The present petitions have been filed by a Federation of Haj Group Organizers (hereinafter, ‘HGOs’) as also two individual HGOs seeking directions to the Respondents to accept the reply of the HGOs to the queries raised by the Respondent - Ministry of Minority Affairs through email.

4. The submission on behalf of the Petitioner by Mr. Khan, ld. Counsel, is that applications were filed by HGOs for allotment of quotas. Certain queries were raised by the Respondent through the HGO portal. However, when the Petitioners sought to submit the documents through the portal, an error due to a technical glitch occurred. The documents could not be uploaded. Hence, the prayer is that the reply of the Petitioners to the queries raised, ought to be accepted through e-mail or in physical form. The apprehension is that if the replies are not accepted, the Petitioners’ applications would not be considered and no quota would be allotted to the said entities/persons. Mr. Khan, ld. Counsel has taken the Court through the screenshots of the HGO portal website to show that there was an error being W.P.(C) 4885/2023 & connected matters shown on the portal. It is further submitted by the ld. Counsel that the parties have sent several e-mails pointing out this difficulty. However, the e-mails are not being responded to by the authorities.

5. On behalf of the Respondent, Mr. Chetan Sharma, ld. ASG along with Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, ld. CGSC and Mr. Mukul Singh, Advocate submits that for accepting the applications by the HGOs, the HGO portal is being operated by the Respondent. The said portal was opened on 14th March, 2023 and the registration of the HGOs is being carried out since then. In order to bring transparency in the manner in which the allocation of quota would take place, the portal has been designed with a unique ID and password and the same have been allotted to the HGOs. It is submitted the same also ensures that only genuine HGOs are allocated the quota and the past experiences wherein pilgrims were left stranded when they visited for the Haj are not repeated.

6. The submission of ld. ASG, is that, insofar as the technical glitch is concerned, the Respondent is willing to send the observations/queries qua the Petitioners herein once again to enable them to submit their documents within 48 hours. He submits that the portal is functioning well which is evidenced by the fact that a total number of 810 applications were received on the portal. In addition, 11 applications were received wherein the documents were not submitted properly. In respect of 735 applications, queries were raised by the Ministry and 689 replies have already been received. Even today, 30 to 35 replies have been received on the HGO portal. Thus, according to the Respondent, the number of parties, entities or persons who may not have been able to submit the documents in response to queries would be very minimal.

7. Heard the ld. Counsel for the parties.

8. The Ministry of Minority Affairs, GOI, issued Notice dated 14th March 2023 inviting applications for registration of HGOs for the purposes of allocation of quota. Two categories of HGOs i.e., Category-1 and Category-2 were created for this purpose, based on the experience of the HGOs and their turnover. The Haj-2023 policy was challenged before the Supreme Court in W.P.(C) 375/2023 titled ‘Federation Haj PTOs of India v. Union of India’ and other connected matters. The policy was not interfered with and in respect of any grievances the Supreme Court directed parties to make representations. In the said writ petitions, vide order dated 27th March, 2023, the following order was passed: “ Heard the learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioners and the learned Solicitor General of India for the respondent-Union of India. We have perused the preliminary counter affidavit filed by the Union of India and, in particular, the statement therein regarding the policy decision taken by the Government to help the poor pilgrims. The learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are willing to match the price of the package offered by the Government of India through Haj Committee. If that be so, the petitioners are free to represent their case(s) before the Government. It is ultimately the Government which has to take the appropriate policy decision in the light of the representation which may be made by the petitioners. By directing the Government to consider the representation at the earliest, the Writ Petitions are disposed of. Pending applications also stand disposed of.”

9. The Circular/notice dated issued on 14th March, 2023 issued by clearly communicated that all applications and documents would be uploaded only through the HGO portal. The relevant portion of the Notice is extracted below: “NOTICE Subject: Registration of Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) for Haj 2023-registration and allocation of quota for Haj 2023. The Ministry of Minority Affairs intends to register firms doing business of tour operators for Haj and/ or Umarah for Haj 2023 under two categories i.e. Category-1 and Category-2.

2. The applications for registration along with the required documents/ information may be submitted online on the HGO portal www.haj.nic.irr/pto as per the timelines. given below. It may be noted that all the documents uploaded by the applicants should be clearly legible and as per the specifications indicated on the portal. Applications not conforming to the laid down specifications or are not legible are liable to be rejected. The printed copy of the acknowledgement duly signed by the authorised representative of the HGO along with non-refundable application fee and Security Deposit may be submitted to the Under Secretary, Haj Division, Ministry of Minority Affairs 11th Floor, Pt. Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003. Start date of submission of online application: 14.03.2023 at 1700 Hrs Last date of submission of online application 28.03.2023 at 1700 Hrs. Last date of submission of printed copy of acknowledgment along with application fee and Security Deposit 05.04.2023 at 1700 Hrs.