In response to a petition seeking the establishment of a Central Haj Committee under the provisions of the Haj Committee Act, 2002, the Supreme Court issued notice. The petitioner claims that the respondents used the Central Haj Fund to buy property in Mumbai to build a new 'Haj House,' despite the fact that the Haj Committee headquarter .
The appeal, which also sought the establishment of state haj committees in every state of the country, was heard by a bench of Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Krishna Murari.
The petition requested that such committees be established in accordance with the stipulations of the Haj Committee Act of 2002.rs is already in the Maharashtra city.
Senior Advocate Sanjay Hedge, acting for the petitioner, said that there has been no functioning Central Haj Committee in India since 2019, and that the Centre and respondents have failed to comply with the rigorous provisions of the Haj Committee Act, 2002 by failing to appoint such committees.
The counsel also said that out of 19 states, only one has an operating State Haj Committee, while others are simply waiting for the state government to create such committees, despite the fact that these states have been without one for more than three years.
"Section 8 of the Act requires the formation of a new committee at least four months before the existing committee's term expires," the attorney explained, adding that the previous committee's term had already expired.
The petition added that planning for Haj 2022, which is set to take place on July 7, 2022, will be significantly hampered unless the Centre or the respective state government appoints a committee soon.
On October 22, 2021, a meeting of the Haj Committee was held, at which the Union Minister for Minority Affairs promised that an official announcement for Haj 2022 will be made in the first week of November.
The petition was filed through AOR Talha Abdul Rahman, and the petitioner is a former member of the Central Haj Committee. The petitioner is seeking issuance of directions to the Haj Committee of India to seek cancellation of the lease of land for Haj House in Khargar, Navi Mumbai from City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Mumbai, return the amounts spent thereon to the Haj Fund, and declare the said expenditure as illegal under law.