Apex Court slashes discretionary quota for Haj pilgrims to 300


The Apex Court today reduced the government's discretionary quota seats for Haj pilgrimage to 300 from the 5,050 seats.
A Bench of Justices comprising of Aftab Aslam and Ranjana Prakash Desai limited the number of seats under the discretionary quota by the President to 100, Vice President to 75, Prime Minister to 75 and External Affairs Minister to 50.
The Bench added that 200 seats will be reserved for the Haj Committee of India (HCI).
The court was again informed that 11,000 seats have been reserved under the government quota to be allocated for Haj 2012.
After limiting the seats, the Bench said that the remaining seats will go to the Haj Committees of various states and Union territories.
The court also quoted that it shall not entertain any writ petition for the registration of pilgrims for the Haj 2012.
The Bench said if any such petition by any pilgrim or private tour operator is filed in any High Court, then it shall be transferred to the Apex Court.
The Bench passed such an order after going through the affidavit filed by the government in conformity with the direction passed by the court on May 8.
The court on May 8 had asked the government to furnish details on the allocation of discretionary quota seats for Haj pilgrims on recommendation by dignitaries and eminent persons.
 It had passed the order saying they have initial reservations on the allocation of seats on recommendations of certain dignitaries and eminent persons.
The Apex Court had also directed the government to phase out the subsidy within a span of 10 years, saying the amount can be profitable utilized for the social and educational development of the Muslim community.

News reported by AR for News Vision online news blog

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