The Madras High Court on Friday disposed of a public interest litigation petition filed by the Popular Front of India (PFI) after recording the submission of the Haj Committee of India (HCI) that a representation made by the State government to include the Chennai airport as one of the Haj embarkation points is under its active consideration.
Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy were informed by Advocate-General R. Shunmugasundaram and counsel for HCI S. Haja Mohideen Gisthi that the government had insisted upon restoring the Chennai airport as one of the embarkation points for those who intend to make the pilgrimage this year.
In an affidavit filed on behalf of the PFI, its general secretary Abdul Kader said making a pilgrimage to the holy mosque, Masjid-al-Haram, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, was one of the religious obligations of Muslims. In 2019, over 1.23 lakh Indians undertook the journey and 21 embarkation points, including Chennai, were notified across the country.
Stating that the HCI had reduced the number of embarkation points for this year from 21 to 10 by citing COVID-19, the petitioner organisation claimed that the decision was unilateral and arbitrary. He said pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands had been asked to travel to the Kochi airport.
