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A division bench of Madras High Court headed by Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bandari and consisting of Justice Bharata Chakravarthy has directed the authorities concerned to consider making Chennai airport a point of embarkation for Haj pilgrims.

The observation was made in a plea filed by Popular Front of India against the Haj Committee as 2022 guidelines do not feature Chennai Aiport as one of the embarkation points.

The counsel for PFI submitted that Chennai Airport was one of the destinations for embarkation of the Haj pilgrims, however, as Chennai Aiport has not been shown as one of the embarkation points in the latest guidelines, consequences would be heavily on the pilgrims going to the Haj from the State of Tamil Nadu.

The Haj committee submitted that the recommendations of the State Government were received and embarkation for the Haj pilgrims would be in the month of August 2022 with the visa processing scheduled to commence this month (April) end.

It was further submitted that the matter is under consideration of the Haj Committee and that the guidelines were brought in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Court, on hearing the submissions of the parties, noted that it cannot issue directions against the guidelines as the policy decision was taken in consonance with the COVID-19 guidelines.

Court further noted, “If the plea of the petitioner is accepted that anyone who intends to go for Haj from the State of Tamil Nadu has to cover the area of 700-800 Km to reach Cochin, it would cause inconvenience and would become a costly affair, such pleas can be raised by the members intending to go for Haj from the States of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, as those States have also not been included in the embarkation points.”

Court thus disposed of the writ petition with an observation that if it is found appropriate, the Haj Committee may take a decision to make necessary amendment the guidelines to include certain other embarkation points, keeping in mind the recommendations of the State Government and the number of persons, who travel for Haj from any of the embarkation points.

Case title: Popular Front of India Vs Haj Committee of India