Gauhati High Court directs Haj Committee to refund excess airfare to Assam pilgrims

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court issued a direction to the Central Haj Committee of India to dispose of the representations submitted by the petitioner on November 22, 2023, strictly in the light of the provisions contained in Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act, 2002. The HC directed the Haj Committee of India to dispose of representations by a speaking order within a period of 90 days from the day of passing the order.

Gauhati HC judge Justice K. Sema was conducting a hearing into a case (WP(C)/965/2024) filed by petitioners who are Haj pilgrims during Haj 2023. The case of the petitioners, as projected by their counsel, is that the selected Haj pilgrims of Assam were asked to deposit Rs. 3,82,297 each for Haj expenditures, including the airfare of a chartered flight.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that out of Rs. 3,82,297, an amount of Rs. 1,54,694 was collected as the airfare of the chartered flight from Guwahati to Jeddah. However, during embarkation at Guwahati, the Haj pilgrims of Assam were asked to take a normal passenger flight instead of an international chartered flight. It is the case of the petitioners that, though the Haj Committee of India had cancelled the chartered flight from Guwahati, the excess amount that was deposited by the pilgrims for the chartered flight was not refunded. The petitioners accordingly submitted two representations addressed to the Chief Executive Officer, Haj Committee of India, on November 22, 2023, seeking the refund of the excess amount that was collected from Haj pilgrims, but the Haj Committee, as of date, has not disposed of the representations nor refunded the amount to the petitioners.

Being aggrieved, the present petition was filed with a limited prayer to direct the Haj Committee of India to dispose of the representations submitted by the petitioner in accordance with Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act, 2002.

It should be mentioned here that Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act, 2002, related to redressal of grievances, states that any Haj pilgrim, who is aggrieved by the discharge of any of the duties performed by the Haj Committee or the State Haj Committee, shall make a representation for the redressal of his grievance to the Haj Committee or the State Haj Committee, as the case may be, and the same shall be disposed of by the said Committee, if necessary, after hearing the aggrieved person.

Accordingly, Justice K. Sema disposed of the present writ petition at the motion stage by directing the Haj Committee of India to dispose of the representations submitted by the petitioner by speaking order after hearing the petitioners and by adhering to the mandate of Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act, 2002, within a period of 90 days from the day of passing of this order.

Meanwhile, the advocate for the petitioners M.F. Mazumdar said that the Joint State Haj Committee of Assam, Meghalaya, and Nagaland sent as many as 6,302 pilgrims to Mecca in 2023, including 93 from Meghalaya, 20 from Nagaland, and 6,189 from Assam. He stated that Rs. 65,000 of the excess airfare collected from each of the 6,302 pilgrims for chartered flight shall be refunded by the Haj Committee of India, pegging the total amount at Rs. 40.96 crore.

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