The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed the petitions filed by private tour operators challenging a notification of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) mandating 250 sq feet carpet area for offices of private Haj tour operators. Concluding various petitions and interventions filed by 45 different tour operators,Justice D D Sinha and Justice V K Tahilramani said,We are not disturbing the policy and the list sent to Saudi Arabia government of tour operators held eligible for this year. The court,however,asked the MEA to allot 800 unutilised seats to the tour operators held ineligible for not having an office of 250 sq feet or more following their usual criteria for allotment of Haj pilgrim quotas. Since the 800 seats might lapse or go waste,they should be allotted to these operators. The MEA should not force the 250 square feet office area criteria for allotment of these seats, Justice Sinha said. The court said this allotment should be made in the next two days. The pilgrims going through private tour operators from Mumbai are scheduled to depart on October 7,said Cherag Balsara,lawyer for the petitioners. Lawyer for the MEA told the court that the 800 seats would not go waste as these are allotted to candidates in the VIP or VVIP quota. He urged the court to stay the allotment of the unutilised quota of 800 seats. However,the judges refused and said,We are unable to agree with the request made. Balsara told the court that the Saudi Arabia government has decided to allot 10,000 more seats to India. With the turmoil in countries like Syria,there is a possibility of an additional quota, Balsara said. However,the MEAs lawyer said the ministry had no instructions in this regard. The court said the issue was between the two governments. The tour operators moved court after the MEAs notification of July 15 rendered nearly 170 Haj tour operators in the country unfit to run the agencies. The MEA,however,stated that the notification,that requires Haj tour operators to have an office with a carpet area of at least 250 sq feet,was in the interest of the countrys reputation and image. In 2010,the MEA said in its affidavit that it had received complaints of substandard accommodation and food,lack of proper transportation to Saudi Arabia and misplaced baggage following which 13 Haj tour operators were blacklisted. The ministry stated that it thought it fit to screen the tour operators on the basis of their office space.
