Supreme Court: The Division Bench comprising of Abhay Manohar Sapre and Ashok Bhushan, J.J., granted the permission to thirty private tour operators to apply for Hajj permit with the fresh applications for the year 2016 on or before 27th May, 2016 to the prescribed authority. The Bench said that applications will be considered strictly on the basis of merit in accordance with the law.
The petitioners, the Private Tour Operators (PTOs) who send the pilgrims for Hajj, filed the petition based on the apprehension that their applications, if made or those which are pending with the authorities for grant of permission to undertake Hajj Yatra for the current year 2016 are likely to be rejected thereby making their apprehension a reality and grievance infructuous. Upon this, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Additional Solicitor General submitted that so far no decision has been taken on any of the applications made by these PTOs and suggested that the petitioners submit fresh applications for reconsideration.
The Court accepted the aforesaid submission and said that the reasoned order be passed on each such application by 26.06.2016 and the same be communicated to the applicants. The Bench didn’t express any issue regarding the suggested mechanism and thus, directed the fresh applications to be filed by applicants. [Subhan Tours & Travel Services Petitioner v. Union of India, 2016 SCC OnLine SC 551, Decided On 18.05.2016]