Delhi High Court Provides Relief to Haj Group Organizers in Blacklisting Dispute

In the case Benzy Tours and Travels Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India, Justice Sanjeev Narula ruled that the show-cause notices issued to the HGOs before their blacklisting lacked crucial details about the intended action.

Justice Narula emphasized that the notices did not provide specific information regarding the proposed blacklisting or debarment, thus denying the HGOs a fair chance to defend themselves against such punitive measures. The Court, in its decision on September 18, stated, “In the absence of specific details in the show-cause notices about the proposed action of blacklisting or debarment, the Petitioners were denied a fair opportunity to mount a proper defense against such severe punitive measures, including blacklisting/debarment and the forfeiture of their security deposits.”

While granting relief to the HGOs, the Court instructed the Centre to issue fresh show-cause notices within a week, explicitly outlining the alleged violations of the 2023 Haj Policy and detailing the proposed actions. The Court further directed that the HGOs be allowed to respond to the fresh notices within a week, and the Centre must then pass a new decision within 10 days based on their responses.

During this period, the Court allowed the HGOs to remain eligible to apply for Haj 2025. The ruling clarified, “Since the impugned orders have been set aside, there is no subsisting blacklisting or debarment against the Petitioners. Therefore, they are eligible to apply for Haj 2025, and their applications will be scrutinized according to the law.” However, the allocation of seats to these HGOs will only proceed after decisions on the fresh show-cause notices are made, which must be done before the seat allocation process begins.

HGOs are responsible for facilitating the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia for Haj and Umrah. Under the bilateral agreement between India and Saudi Arabia, a fixed number of seats are allocated by the Saudi government, enabling HGOs to send pilgrims. In May 2023, the petitioner-HGOs were served show-cause notices following a complaint accusing them of cartelization and black-marketing of HGO seats.

The HGOs challenged these notices and initially received interim relief from the High Court, allowing them to continue operations for Haj 2023. However, after the show-cause notices, the HGOs were blacklisted starting from Haj 2024 for specified periods. They contested the blacklisting, arguing that the notices were legally flawed as they did not indicate the potential penalties of debarment, blacklisting, or forfeiture of security deposits.

The Court sided with the HGOs, noting that the notices fell short of the necessary legal standards for such a severe action. It observed, "The fundamental principle of natural justice requires that the notice must explicitly mention the proposed action of blacklisting or debarment, giving the recipient a fair opportunity to respond to such a serious consequence. Failure to specify this action leaves the notice deficient and invalidates the basis for the subsequent blacklisting or debarment orders."

Advocates Sulaiman Mohd. Khan, Taiba Khan, Bhanu Malhotra, Gopeshwar Singh Chandel, Abdul Bari Khan, and Aditi Chaudhary represented the petitioners, while Central Government Standing Counsel Mukul Singh, Anurag Ahluwalia, Manish Mohan, and others represented the Union of India.