New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) The Supreme Court has issued notice to the government on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Haj Committee Act, 1959, providing for financial assistance by the government to Muslims for Haj pilgrimage.

A bench of judges H.K. Sema and R.V. Raveendran issued notice Monday on a petition by Prafull Goradia, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP who contended that an estimated Rs.2.8 billion of annual expenditure by the government to fund the Haj pilgrims was not only unconstitutional but also a severe drain on the tax payers' money.

The petitioner said the Haj Act also violated the fundamental right to equality, enshrined in the constitution.

Goradia said the Haj fund had been created under the Haj Act and the Centre and the State Governments were allotting substantial amount for this fund to pay the expenses incurred by Muslims to undertake pilgrimage to their holy lands abroad.

He contended that there was no legal provision to pay the expenses of pilgrims of other Indian citizens belonging to Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and Sikh religions to visit holy places outside India.

The petitioner submitted that exclusion of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Sikhs violated the constitution, as the state could not discriminate between the citizens on the grounds of religion, caste or creed.

The former MP submitted that the Haj Act was not "a secular enactment" and was opposed to the 'basic structure' of the constitution.

He said that being a secular country, the government could not promote a particular religion at the cost of other religions and the government could not spend the amount collected by way of taxes for one religious community.