NEW DELHI: The

on Friday told the Centre that it was unhappy over the manner in which the annual

for over 1.7 lakh

was being handled and sought answers to various questions ranging from selection of the government delegation to the ethicality of

.

A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana P Desai hastily sought presence of attorney general G E Vahanvati and asked him to get the response of the Centre on questions relating to Haj by February 24. Though the appeal against a Kerala HC judgment on private Haj operators was filed by the Union of India through advocate Harish Beeran, the court converted it into a public interest litigation.

The bench wanted to know who decided the composition of the Prime Minister’s Goodwill Delegation, how this came about and the purpose it served. It also asked the government to specify the government quota in the total Haj pilgrims permitted from India by Saudi Arabia government and explain the modalities of its distribution.

When the court said it would consider the ethicality of government subsidy for Haj, Vahanvati said it had already been upheld by the apex court. But the bench said it would have a fresh look at the logic behind government off-setting the cost of the pilgrimage.

The bench had last year stayed a Kerala HC order putting last-minute spokes in the government's quota but had said the manner in which the pilgrimage was being organized every year left much to be desired. It wanted the Haj pilgrimage for the year 2012 to be streamlined.

Of the 170,000 Haj pilgrims quota fixed for India, 1.25 lakh were nominated by Haj Committee through draw of lots, 11,000 by government of India including 1,500 for

and rest through private tour operators (PTOs).

The bench was critical of the treatment meted out to pilgrims by PTOs and said Hajis were being fleeced. "We have personally come across sufferings of Hajis at the hands of some unscrupulous Haj tour operators. We must have a proper policy for 2012," the bench had said during the last hearing.