Senior Counsel Arvind Datar, who also represented the petitioners, had argued that unlike pilgrimages by Hindus to Kashi or Badrinath, Hajj was obligatory for adherents of Islam.
After counsel for the government objected to such references, Justice Khanwilkar said,
“[Such] comparison can draw into debate everything. Being rationalist is part of being Hindu.”
Datar had argued that under the existing scheme, tax benefits are only granted to those availing the government quota, while the 30 per cent of others have to pay tax towards facilitating Hajj.
Source: Barandbench
