The expeditious establishment of the Central Hajj Committee has been directed by the Supreme Court, where CJI DY Chandrachud has instructed the Union of India to file an affidavit regarding the current status of the formation process that has been mandated by the bench, also consisting Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, with a deadline set for April.  

The court's involvement in this matter stems from a contempt petition filed in October of the preceding year by Hafiz Naushad Ahmad Azmi, a former member of the Central Haj Committee. During the hearing, the petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde. The Assistant Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj informed the court that the formation process was already in progress.

Originating in 2021, the petitioner's initial action took the form of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking a court directive for the government to constitute the Central Haj Committee under Section 3, read with 4, and State Haj Committees in each state under Section 17, read with 18, of the Haj Committee Act.

A notable revelation in the petitioner's PIL was the absence of active State Haj Committees across the nation, excluding Tamil Nadu, as indicated by the response to a Right to Information (RTI) query. Consequently, a Supreme Court bench, presided over by Justices Abdul Nazeer and JK Maheshwari, had instructed all states to submit affidavits within two weeks, apprising the court of the current status of the formation of Haj committees in their respective regions.

Case:  HAFIZ NAUSHAD AHMAD AZMI vs. KATIKITHALA SRINIVAS, SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS.