08-26-2006, 09:22 AM
<!--emo&:argue--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/argue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='argue.gif' /><!--endemo--> Haj ruling: BJP agrees, Congress squirms
[ 26 Aug, 2006 0311hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: The Allahabad HC verdict, barring financial support for Haj, has elicited contrasting responses from the political spectrum. Congress made plain its discomfort with the order even as senior government sources asserted that it would soon be challenged in the Supreme Court.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: "There are sufficient grounds to challenge the court order, the last word on the verdict had not been heard."
BJP, however, appeared to have no quarrel with it, even though the party said it would come out with a detailed response only after it had gone through the court order. Its initial response, predictably, appeared to be in line with the spirit of the ruling.
"Though we will have to examine the judgement properly, as far as BJP's views are concerned, we always hold that state funds should be used on non-discriminatory basis," party spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said.
A division bench of Justices A K Yog and O N Khandelwal of Lucknow bench passed the order on a petition moved in 1995 by B N Shukla, a Shiv Sena activist, through his counsel H S Jain.
The petitioner had sought curbs on aid by central and state governments to pilgrims going on Haj or on any other pilgrimage by people of any religion.
Earlier this year, the Allahabad High Court had delivered another ruling impacting on minority affairs when it ruled that Aligarh Muslim University could not claim "minority" institution status.
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[ 26 Aug, 2006 0311hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: The Allahabad HC verdict, barring financial support for Haj, has elicited contrasting responses from the political spectrum. Congress made plain its discomfort with the order even as senior government sources asserted that it would soon be challenged in the Supreme Court.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: "There are sufficient grounds to challenge the court order, the last word on the verdict had not been heard."
BJP, however, appeared to have no quarrel with it, even though the party said it would come out with a detailed response only after it had gone through the court order. Its initial response, predictably, appeared to be in line with the spirit of the ruling.
"Though we will have to examine the judgement properly, as far as BJP's views are concerned, we always hold that state funds should be used on non-discriminatory basis," party spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said.
A division bench of Justices A K Yog and O N Khandelwal of Lucknow bench passed the order on a petition moved in 1995 by B N Shukla, a Shiv Sena activist, through his counsel H S Jain.
The petitioner had sought curbs on aid by central and state governments to pilgrims going on Haj or on any other pilgrimage by people of any religion.
Earlier this year, the Allahabad High Court had delivered another ruling impacting on minority affairs when it ruled that Aligarh Muslim University could not claim "minority" institution status.
1|2|Next >