AL ISMAIL HAJ TOUR versus UNION OF INDIA

Citation: [2016] 3 S.C.R. 449 · Decided: 08-07-2016 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: JASTI CHELAMESWAR · Disposal: Disposed off

cites 1 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

[2016] 3 S.C.R. 449 
AL ISMAIL HAJ TOUR 
V. 
UNION OF INDIA 
(Writ Petition (C) No. 425 of2016) 
JULY08,2016 
[J. CHELAMESWAR AND ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE, JJ.) 
Haj - Haj pilgrims - Private Tour Operators(PTO) for Haj -
Approved policy for registration of - Said policy valid for five years, 
2013-2017 -
Clarification by MEA whereby PTO seeking 
registration for consideration for allotment of quota for Haj 
programme required to furnish documents - Writ petitions by PTO 
falling under Category-I and II - Category I PTO's registered with 
MEA and facilitated Hajis at least for 7 or more years by conducting 
Haj tour operations - Category-IL Class-I PTOs are who facilitated 
Haji for less than 7 years and Class-II who facilitated at least 50 
umrah pilgrims in a year for any five years - Directions sought to 
exempt them to furnish documents required under clause (vii) 
seeking production proof of the payments towards purchase of 
tickets and hiring of accommodation in Makkah 1 Madinah, (x), (xi) 
and (xii) of Annexure A of the PTO Policy for Haj 2013 and Haj 
201./; and to grant registration as PTO for conducting Haj Tour, 
2016 - Held: Documents specified in stipulation (vii) not only go to 
prove a fact that a PTO had in fact conducted a Haj programme in 
a particular year, but also prove that the PTO has necessary 
information and contacts in Saudi Arabia to organize an appropriate 
accommodation both at Makkah/Madinah - Stipulation (vii) is 
relevant only for· those PTOs, who are seeking registration either 
under Category I or Category II as PTOs eligible for consideration 
for allotment of quotas for Haj Programme for the first time -
However, once the PTO is registered either under Category I or 
Category II insisting upon the PTO to produce proof for each 
subsequent year or to produce documents contemplated under 
stipulation (vii) is not supported either by the text of the APPROVED 
POLICY or logic - It cannot be said that the Government should be 
permitled to insist upon production of such documents for minimum 
two preceding years - Registration for PTO once made under the 
scheme should be valid till 2017, subject to .fulfillment of other 
449 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
450 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2016] 3 S.C.R. 
relevant stipulations under the scheme - If anyone of those PTOs 
conduct a ha} programme pursuant to the quota for 2015 Ha}, they 
must be considered for allotment of quota for Ha} 2016 if they are 
othenvise eligible - Respondents, to consider the cases of all PTOs 
for allotment of quota in the light of these orders insofar as 
stipulation (vii) subject to the fact that PTOs are otherwise eligible 
as per the approved scheme. 
Disposing of the writ petitions, the Court 
HELD: 1.1 Stipulation no. (vii) seeking production proof of 
the payments (made through banking or other authorized 
channels) towards purchase of tickets and hiring of 
accommodation in Makkah/ Madinah) does not impose a 
substantive obligation on a PTO seeking consideration for 
allotment of quota by the Government oflndia for Haj programme 
of any particular year. It only incorporates a rule of evidence to 
establish the fact whether a particular PTO had in fact conducted 
Haj programme,in the past. [Para 25) [463-D-E) 
1.2 To decide upon the eligibility of PTOs, certain criteria 
was required. Therefore, the APPROVED POLICY stipulated 
that those PTOs who had conducted at least 7 Haj operations or 
more would be considered in Category-I and PTOs who had 
conducted less than 7 Haj operations would be treated as 
Category-II PTOs. The consequence of the division of PTOs into 
two categories is that the total number of Visas to be provided by 
the Government of Saudi Arabia for the pilgrims going through 
PTOs would be distributed among the two categories in the ratio 
indicated which is already taken note of. PTOs which had 
conducted greater number ofHaj programmes would get a larger 
chunk of visas. To determine whether a particular PTO falls either 
under Category-I or Category-II, some evidence to establish the 
number of tours conducted by such a PTO prior to the formation 
of the scheme is required. The best proof, as rightly identified by 
the Government (in stipulation no. (vii) of Annexure 'A'), is the 
evidence of payments for the air tickets and hiring of 
accommodation through banking or other authorized channels. 
[Para 27) [464-B-D] 
1.3 Stipulation (vii) is relevant only for those PTOs, who 

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.