By Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 7: In order to address the issues relating to the Haj pilgrims and ensure better functioning of the State Haj Committees, the Supreme Court has sought detailed information from various States of the country including Jammu and Kashmir, which are required to be submitted by or before October 30, 2012.
During the hearing in petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil), Huzefa Ahmadi, Amicus Curiae handed over the questionnaire to be issued to all the State Haj Committees so as to obtain their views for the purpose of improving the working of such committees and also to address the issues relating to Haj pilgrims.
“The two other vital issues, which are required to be addressed in order to deal with the issues relating to the Haj pilgrims, pertain to accommodation and air travel”, he submitted, adding “there is a dire need to provide better accommodation to the pilgrims at a reasonable cost. The Haj pilgrims should also be provided cheaper air travel either through the national carrier or private airlines”.
After hearing Amicus Curiae and battery of lawyers for petitioners, Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai directed the Registry to serve the questionnaire to all the State Haj Committees within a period of five days.
The Apex Court has directed the State Haj Committees including that of Jammu and Kashmir to respond to the questionnaire on or before October 30 with a copy to the Amicus Curiae. “In the event of no reply being received on or before October 30, the right of the State Haj Committee to submit response will stand closed”, the Supreme Court has made it clear in its order. The matter will be taken up for further hearing on November 8, 2012.
The copy of questionnaire along with record of proceedings have been sent to Executive Officer of J&K State Haj Committee, Dr Abdul Salam Mir by the Assistant Registrar of Supreme Court, who has mentioned in the communication that response to the questionnaire should be submitted within the time-limit fixed by the Apex Court.
The Supreme Court has sought to know from the Jammu and Kashmir State Haj Committee as to what measures have been taken to improve Haj process and how best the pilgrims could be served in future and their grievances redressed, the copy of questionnaire available with EXCELSIOR said, adding the State Haj Committee has also been asked to explain as to how the errors in data entry could be avoided as the same puts the pilgrims to lot of inconvenience.
The State Haj Committee has also been directed to explain the problems being faced at various stages particularly in accepting and processing of forms and inform about the proposed solutions.
It will also have to explain infrastructure related problems. The Committee has also been directed to apprise the Supreme Court about the financial support received from the State, Haj Committee of India, amount spent to facilitate the pilgrims and whether funds are adequate to meet the expenditure on various activities from Haj application form to disembarkation stage besides any manpower and staffing problems.
When contacted, Dr Abdul Salam Mir said, “we have began the exercise to furnish response to the Supreme Court’s questionnaire well within the prescribed time-frame”.
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