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Andhra HC stays state Govt's order of funding Christian pilgrimages Hyderabad:
Staying the state government's order of providing financial assistance to Christian
pilgrimage to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday
ruled that the state government should not spend public money for any such pilgrimage.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice A R Dave gave this ruling in response
to a Public Interest Litigation challenging the constitutional validity of the
order issued by the minorities welfare department on July 21 last year. The petitioner
argued that a secular state couldn't fund a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other
holy places. He contended that the Indian Constitution in Article 266 clearly
states how the funds of the state could be spent. Under the last year's order,
the state government had announced a financial assistance of 20,000 rupees to
each Christian pilgrim undertaking a seven-day tour to Jordan and Israel. The
first batch of 51 Christian pilgrims had undertaken the pilgrimage with government
assistance in November last year. The total cost of the pilgrimage was 56,000
rupees per pilgrim. The pilgrimage includes visits to Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth,
Jordan River, Dead Sea and theSea of Galilee and other important places connected
with the life of Jesus Christ. The state government had allocated 20 million rupees
for the purpose in its 2008-09 Budget.
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