Being rationalist part of being Hindu: Supreme Court's Justice AM Khanwilkar in Hajj GST exemption case

Justice AM Khanwilkar of the Supreme Court stated on Monday that being a rationalist was a part of being a Hindu. .The Bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar and also comprising Justices AS Oka and CT Ravikumar was hearing a plea seeking Goods and Services Tax (GST) and service tax exemptions for private Hajj operators.During the hearing, Senior Counsel Arvind Datar argued that unlike pilgrimages by Hindus to Kashi or Badrinath, Hajj was obligatory for adherents of Islam.After counsel for the government objected to such references, Justice Khanwilkar said,"[Such] comparison can draw into debate everything. Being rationalist is part of being Hindu.".Representing private tour operators, Datar argued that under the existing scheme, tax benefits are only granted to those availing the government quota, while the 30 per cent others have to pay tax to Saudi authorities towards facilitating Hajj.The Bench asked whether only the conduct while in Saudi Arabia should be construed as exempt from tax, while activities including air travel will have to be taxed."To reach place of worship, that cannot be termed conduct of the religious ceremony towards exemption. Anything done here in India...So far as conduct of rituals it'll have to be done there, does exemption for religious activities apply throughout? The answer is NO," Justice Khanwilkar said. Datar responded that the current scheme is discriminatory as tax is only levied on private operators, and defeats the object of exemption by taxing a gross consideration of a religious service. After hearing Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan as well as a counsel appearing for a pilgrim, the Bench said it would continue hearing matter tomorrow..[Follow our coverage of today's hearing]