Femina Siyad And Ors vs Union Of India And Ors

The writ petition is filed by the legal heirs of late Muhammed Siyad, who was conducting Tour business in the name and style of Safa Travels &

Tourism, Ettumanoor.

It is stated that the deceased Muhammed Siyad had applied for licence to the Haj Committee for conducting Haj tour operation and he had

deposited a sum of Rs.25 lakhs in the Punjab National Bank. After Muhammed Siyad passed away, the petitioners approached the Bank for refund of

the amount. The Bank insisted for a letter from the Haj Committee and the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Union of India. The petitioner has

approached this Court seeking the following directions:

“i) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ, order or direction directing the Respondents 1 and 2 to issue necessary No Objection

Letter to the petitioners stating that no license was issued to Muhammed Siyad for conducting Hajj tour operation and that the petitioners

are entitled to withdraw the amount of Rs.25 lakhs deposited by the aforesaid Muhammed Siyad in 3rd Respondent Bank;

ii) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ order or direction directing the 3rd Respondent to release and pay to the petitioners the

amount of Rs.25 lakhs deposited by their predecessors in interest, Muhammed Siyad to the petitioners on receipt of the letter from the

Respondents 1 and 2 stating that no license had been issued to the aforesaid Muhammed Siyad for conducting Hajj Tour Operation; and

iii) Pass such further orders as this Honourable Court may be pleased to grant on the facts and circumstances of the case.â€​

I heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, learned ASGI as well as the learned Standing Counsel for the Bank.

The learned ASGI has along with the statement produced a letter dated 19.06.2020 received from the Ministry of Minority Affairs in which it is

stated as follows:

“2.xxx

xxx

(iv). Shri. Mohammed Siyad N S was proprietor of the tour agency 'Safa Travels & Tourism' whereas as per the PNB letter dated

04.08.2017 attached with your representation and with the writ petition, the deposit was made in the name of 'Safa Travels, Ettumanoorâ€​.

Further, the records of the Division for registration of HGOs/PTOs for Haj 2016 and Haj 2017 have been checked. From the readily

available records, it appears that no travel agency in the name of 'Safa Travels & Tourism' or 'Safa Travels' had applied for registration as

PTO/HGO in these years. Haj Committee of India has also confirmed that they have not received any FDR from the Tour Agency “M/s

Safa Travelsâ€​ either during Haj 2016 or Haj 2017. This is for your information please.â€​

In the above circumstances, there cannot be any further impediment for the Bank to release the amount to the petitioners, who are the legal heirs, as

the only objection raised by the Bank was that they have to get the letter from the Haj Committee. Therefore, there shall be a direction to the Bank to

release the amount to petitioners without any further delay, at any rate, within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the

judgment.

Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of.