Andhra Pradesh High Court stays state funding of pilgrimage to Holy Land
(July 25, 2009) The High Court of Andhra Pradesh July 22 stalled a state government
order providing monetary aid to Christians for pilgrimage to the Holy Land, including
Bethlehem and Jerusalem and other places connected with the life and death of Jesus
Christ. The order was issued last year on the lines of the government funding of Hajj
pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia for Muslims. Staying the order, a division bench headed
by Chief Justice A.R. Dave ruled that the state government should not spend tax payers’
money for pilgrimages. The court order came in the wake of a public interest litigation
challenging the Constitutional validity of the order issued by the Minorities Welfare
Department July 21, 2008. The state government had allocated Rs. 20 million for the
purpose in its budget last year. The petitioner argued that a secular state could
not fund pilgrimages to Jerusalem and other holy places as Article 266 of the Indian
Constitution does not provide for it. Under the order, the Congress-led state government
headed by Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, himself a Christian, had announced a financial assistance
of Rs. 20,000 to each Christian pilgrim undertaking a seven-day tour to Jordan and
Israel.