Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court recently disposed of a writ petition regarding the refund of excess airfare amounts charged from Haj pilgrims of Assam by directing the Haj Committee of India to dispose of the representations submitted by the petitioners through a speaking order and by adhering to the mandate of Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act, 2002.
The single-judge bench of Justice Soumitra Saikia issued the order in a writ petition, case no. (WP(C)/6257/2024), filed by Haj 2023 pilgrims of Assam. The case of the petitioners is that they were charged fare for a chartered flight but were instead flown to Jeddah by normal passenger flight. The excess fare should have been refunded, but despite several representations to the Haj Committee of India, they have yet to receive the amount due to them.
It was submitted that, in 2023, a tender was called for a chartered flight, and after finalising the tender, the selected Haj pilgrims of Assam were asked to deposit Rs. 3,82,297 each for Haj expenditure, including the airfare of the chartered flight.
The counsel for the Haj pilgrims submitted that out of Rs. 3,82,297, an amount of Rs. 1,54,694 was collected as airfare for the chartered flight from Guwahati to Jeddah. However, at the time of boarding at Guwahati airport, the Haj pilgrims of Assam were asked to take a normal passenger flight instead of the international chartered flight, as promised. It is the case of the petitioners that though the Haj Committee of India had cancelled the chartered flight from Guwahati, the excess amount that was deposited by the pilgrims for the chartered flight was not refunded.
The petitioners accordingly submitted various representations addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the Haj Committee of India seeking the refund of the excess amount, but the Haj Committee, as of date, has not refunded the amount to the petitioners. Being aggrieved, the present petition had been filed, with the limited prayer to direct the Haj Committee of India to dispose of the representations submitted by the petitioners in accordance with Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act, 2002. The counsel for the parties were in unanimity that the present writ petition can be disposed of in accordance with the said section.
It is to be noted that Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act of 2002 relates to the redressal of grievances for Haj pilgrims, and any Haj pilgrim who is aggrieved by the duties of the central Haj Committee or the state Haj Committee.
In the light of the submissions made by the counsel for the parties, the HC disposed of the writ petition with a direction to the Haj Committee of India to dispose of the representations submitted by the petitioners by a speaking order, strictly in the light of the provisions contained in Section 42 of the Haj Committee Act, 2002. The process should be completed within a period of 90 days from the day of passing of the order, it was stated.
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