Hyderabad High Court refuses to stay Telangana iftar, says only poor be invited
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Friday refused to stay a state government-sponsored iftar dinner for poor Muslims at all mosques across the state on June 18.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Rangana-than and Justice T. Rajani said that it can stay the dinner when all arrangements were made. The bench, however, directed the state government to ensure that only the poor Muslims are feed on the day and that the benefits announced for the Ramzan festival shall be reach only the deserved poor Muslim families.
The directions were given by the bench while dealing with a petition filed by a city-based social activist urging the court to restrain the government from hosting the dinner using the public money.
The bench questioned the counsel for the petitioner as to how it could intervene in a decision of the government to provide concessions to some sections of the society.
Mr. Sameer Ahmed, the counsel appearing for the petitioner, told the court that the government has been spending the funds of the minority welfare dep-artment since 2015 in the name of Iftar dinners.
He submitted that in 2016 about Rs 3 lakh were spent only on invitation cards and car passes. He said that Iftar dinners are meant to feed the poor Muslims who are observing the fast, but the government has been feeding the rich people. He said Rs 60 crores were allocated for this year.
While perusing the GO issued by the state government for the iftar scheduled on June 18, the bench said that the GO disclosed that the government would give gift packs to poor Muslims for the Ramzan festival.
The bench asked the counsel for the government to inform the court by 2.30 pm about the method adopted by the government to identify poor Muslims for extending these benefit.
When the bench resumed its hearing at 2.30 pm, Mr. J. Ramachandra Rao, additional advocate general of Telangana, submitted that the benefits will be extended to orphans, destitute, widows and poor Muslims.
He told the court that the government has not spen-ding the funds of the minority welfare department for the iftar.
He said mosque committee, local MLAs and officers would identify poor Muslims for the benefits.
