Petition seeks subsidy to all religious communities for pilgrimage

New Delhi, Nov 21 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today asked the petitioner seeking direction to the Centre to disburse subsidy on pilgrimage to other religious communities like that of the Muslims going on Haj to Mecca in Saudi Arab, to file additional information.

A division bench of Justice M K Sharma and Justice Hima Kohli asked the petitioner to submit the copy of the Allahabad High Court judgement and copy of the petition filed in the Supreme Court of India by December 1, the next date of hearing.

Petitioner Ashwini Kumar Gupta has sought the direction of the court to the Union Government to provide subsidy to everybody irrespective of their faiths for going on pilgrimage in the interest of justice.

Counsel Sugriv Dubey and Namita Roy appearing for the petitioner submitted that the government should spend the money of the tax payer on every religious communities.

Every year the government was spending about Rs 300 crore on more than 1.5 lakh people going on Haj pilgrimage by taking them on special flights, keeping them in special houses and providing them with food, said the petition.

There are people of different faiths-- Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians-- in India and providing subsidy to only one community violates the provisions of Articles 14, 15, 17 of the Indian Constitution, said the petition.

The subsidy should be provided to Hindus for pilgrimage to Amarnath and Mansarovar, Sikhs to Nankana Saheb in Pakistan, Buddhists to Sarnath and Christians to Rome, said the petition.

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