Patna: While the process of Haj operation 2010 has been started, the Government of India is yet to appoint anyone who will oversee the arrangement for it despite Delhi High Court direction to appoint a person who did not participate in the last election for National Haj Committee to look into the preparation for this year's Haj pilgrimage.
Though External Affairs Minister SM Krishna yesterday assured timely arrangements for Haj 2010, the shadow of uncertainty remains as delay in appointment of a specific person to supervise the preparation may affect the operation. This year 1.60 lakh Indian Muslims will go to perform Haj—a lifetime Islamic obligation on those who have ability to bear the expenses for the journey.
Notably, shortly after the National Haj Committee was reconstituted, a meeting was held on 10thMarch 2010 in New Delhi wherein senior Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai was elected chairperson of Haj Committee while Hasan Ahmed and Aboo Bucker were elected as vice-chairpersons.
[TCN Photo]
But Delhi High Court barred them from discharging the duties on March 22 following a petition filed by Al Haram Khuddamul Hujjaj, a Delhi-based Haj services society, alleging irregularities in the elections of the members and objecting the way Haj affairs are being conducted.
The petition alleged that the central government through a notification deleted names of some states including Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Maghalaya, Union Territory of Chandigarh and Andaman & Nicobar Island. This deprived the representatives of these states to participate in the Haj Committee affairs, which is violation of Haj Committee Act 2002. It sought ban on any kind of elections for Haj Committee until members are elected according to the Haj Act.
Acting on the petition, the High Court stayed the previous election and directed to conduct fresh election for nine elected members according to the Haj Act. “...The election to posts of Haj Committee (may) not be held till elections are held to the nine elected members of the Haj Committee in accordance with the Haj Committee Act 2002,” the court order reads.
Later the Central Government filed a plea arguing that since the preparations for Haj would start from August, the chairperson and vice-chairpersons should be permitted to discharge their duties otherwise arrangements would be affected. But the court rejected the government’s appeal and directed Rajiv K Chandra, Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry, to look temporarily into all works for this year's Haj pilgrimage arrangements.
Then the counsel for the government filed an application before the court citing that a non-Muslim person is not allowed in Mecca at the time of Haj, thus court order to nominate Rajiv K Chandra, who is a Hindu, to oversee the preparation has landed the government into difficulty. It also informed the court that there was no Muslim officer of Joint Secretary category in the concerned ministry who would manage the arrangements.
While hearing this petition on July 26, a Division Bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan directed the Central Government to appoint someone, who did not participate in the last election for Haj Committee, to look into the preparation for this year's Haj pilgrimage.
The Haj panel is a statutory body comprising 23 members. Four of them are joint secretaries of ministries such as External Affairs and Civil Aviation who do not have voting powers unlike remaining 19 members. While 10 of them are government nominees, nine are elected according to the Haj Committee Act.
As the Ministry of External Affairs is the nodal authority for Haj Committee, this legal barrier worried External Affairs Minister SM Krishna. He blasted Law Ministry for not providing strong legal support to the government in the court for this sensitive case.
In his letters dated 28 and 30 July to Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily, Krishna expressed his displeasure on the absence of top government lawyers during hearing of the case and asked him to hire senior Supreme Court lawyer KK Venu Gopal to represent the government.
In response to the letter, Moily has assured Krishna to go ahead with his recommended name.
Though the court has fixed September 8 as next date for hearing of the case, the government may move an application this week to find out any solution.
Link:
http://hajcommittee.com
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