In a major ruling the Delhi High Court has ruled that the allotment of lesser quota of Haj pilgrimage seats solely on the difference in GST remittance before application is unjust.
The Haj Policy, 2023 was announced by the Ministry of Minority Affairs (Haj Division) on 14th March, 2023. As per the said Policy, Haj Group Organizers (HGOs) were categorized into Category 1 and Category 2 depending upon their experience and turnover.
Applications were called by the Ministry in terms of the policy and a list of eligible and ineligible HGOs were declared. Thereafter, several writ petitions were filed before the Delhi High Court by HGOs which were rendered ineligible or whose names were not found in the declared list on the ground that the reasons for declaring the Petitioners ineligible were not communicated by the Ministry.
The submission on behalf of the petitioners was that the amount of GST payable is not clear, inasmuch as initially the HGOs were claiming exemption for the Haj pilgrimage. This issue was finally decided by the Supreme Court in the matter of All India Haj Umrah Tour Organizer Association, Mumbai v. Union of India wherein it was held that the exemptions which were given to the Haj Committee would not be applicable to the private HGOs.
The relevant clause in the 2023 Haj policy reveals that while GST registration is mandatory and payment of GST is also mandatory, if there is any uncertainty in respect of the amount of GST to be paid, the same would be an issue which would have to be considered by the GST authorities.
The relevant clause also notes that the percentage of GST liable to be deposited, the uncertainty about the exemption issue, the manner in which GST would have to be calculated i.e., whether on the margins or on total turnover are all intricate issues which the GST authorities would be examining qua each of the HGOs.
A Single Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Prathiba M Singh observed that “So long as the HGOs have a GST registration and have an explanation for the manner in which they have calculated and deposited GST prior to them, filing of the application for allotment of quotas, disqualifying them would be unjust. The Ministry of Minority Affairs is not the competent authority to deal with these issues, though an attempt has been made to explain that the eligible HGOs have made full GST deposits.”
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
