Supreme Court Declines To Intervene In Challenge Against Haj Policy 2025 Implementation
The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the implementation of the Union Government's Haj Policy, 2025 framed in consultation with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A batch of Writ Petitions were filed before the Supreme Court challenging the implementation of the Haj Policy, 2025 where the petitioners, who were Haj Group Organisers (“HGOs”), challenged the allocation of quotas of Haj pilgrims under the Haj-2025 Policy, alleging that the allocation was arbitrary and discriminatory in nature. They claimed that the allocation was inequitable, with some HGOs receiving disproportionately fewer pilgrims than others.
After the Petitioner's counsel informed the Court that quota redistribution among the three HGOs had been carried out for a more equitable allocation and that various HGOs were permitted to submit final MoUs per the Union's notice dated 18.03.2015—outlining CHGO (Combined HGOs) terms and internal quota distribution—by 20.03.2025 (today), the bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh approved the arrangement. The Court also encouraged lead and non-lead HGOs to reallocate surplus pilgrims to those with fewer allocations.
The Court acknowledged that the implementation of a new policy like Haj-2025 often faces initial challenges and anomalies and said that the mechanism of equitable distribution amongst the HGO's would address the issue.
“Given that the instant petitions do not challenge the Haj-2025 Policy and its implementation in the present manner has already taken shape, we are not inclined to further interfere with the implementation of the Haj-2025 Policy at this stage. The steps already taken in our order dated 06.03.2025 and in Paragraph 5 of this order merit the closure of these matters.”, the court said.
The Court exercised restraint by not interfering with the policy's implementation, instead it encouraged a solution based on fairness and mutual cooperation among HGOs.
“In such consideration, it would, of course, follow that the interests of all stakeholders are kept in mind. The most important beneficiaries of the policy are the pilgrims, whose religious interests are the basis of the policy. Apart from these, commercial interests of the HGOs are also to be considered, for which the instant Writ Petitions have been filed. It would go without saying that all these interests would be kept in mind by the policymakers in its approach to implementation of the Haj policies in the future.”, the court observed.
Given that the implementation of the policy was under a challenge before the Court and not the policy itself, the Court refused to interfere with the policy's implementation but clarified that the parties would be at liberty to raise their contentions before the appropriate forum for any future discrimination or other issue with the implementation of the Haj policies.
Further, all other intervention applications raising additional issues with the policy and its implementation were dismissed as non-maintainable with the liberty to the applicants to avail the remedy as per law.
Case Title: KOLKATA TOURS AND TRAVELS (I) PVT. LTD. & ORS. VERSUS UNION OF INDIA
Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 335
