SC orders MEA to pay Rs. 40 lakhs to Haj operators as compensation
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New Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday directed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to pay Rs. 5 lakh each to eight Haj tour operators as compensation for loss of their business.
The operators were exempted for five years from filing proof of payment towards purchase of tickets, hiring of accommodation for pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah. Some of the operators were given relaxation in terms and condition by not furnishing certain documents pertaining to the Haj trip.
However, the ministry in 2016 disqualified eight tour operators from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarath and Maharashtra for carrying Haj pilgrimage and not fulfilling the criteria for which they were exempted.
The operators approached the court against the disqualification in 2016.
The Supreme Court bench, of justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, on Monday termed the ministry's action as "mindless" and said that the petitioners should be entitled to damages in public law so that they are compensated for not having been able to carry on with their business on account of illegal action of the respondents (MEA).