“Right To Have A Decent Burial”: Chhattisgarh HC Permits Man To Bury His Mother’s Dead Body As Per Christian Rituals At Native Place
The Chhattisgarh High Court allowed a man to bury the dead body of his mother as per Christian rituals at his native place i.e., a village.
The said man preferred a writ petition before the Court seeking direction to the authorities to permit him to bury his mother’s dead body as peaceful burial of the deceased.
A Single Bench of Justice Parth Prateem Sahu remarked, “It is already a well-settled principle of law that Article 21 of The Constitution of India includes the right of a person to have a decent burial. Right to life implies a meaningful life with human dignity, not just an animal life and this right also extends to a person who is dead. This right exists until the death of a person which covers the right to a decent life up to death, including a decent death procedure.”
Advocate Pravin Kumar Tulsyan appeared for the petitioner while Deputy Advocate General Pravin Das and Panel Lawyer D.R. Minj appeared for the respondents.
In this case, the mother of the petitioner died natural death on June 28 this year in his house at a village. The petitioner was following the Christianity religion and therefore, some of the other villagers objected the cremation of the dead body in the earmarked place i.e., graveyard at the village. Such arbitrary, illegal, and forceful action on the part of the village residents was reported to the police station. The Station House Officer (SHO) instead of advising the villagers, permitting the petitioner to perform the last rite of his mother at his native place, asked him to bury the dead body in the nearby village.
Looking to the starting of decomposing condition of dead body, the same was kept at mortuary of Medical College. The counsel for the petitioner contended that such type of incidents have now become common and people following Christianity are being objected to burying the dead body of their family members in the village in the common graveyard. It was further contended that the SHO was the main person who was provoking the villagers for such an act.
The High Court in view of the above facts observed, “Now coming to the facts of the present case, in light of the judgment passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Mohammed Latief Magrey (supra), the petitioner has the right to bury the dead body of his mother at his birthplace i.e. Village Arracote.”
The Court, therefore, directed the authorities of the Medical College to hand over the dead body of the deceased to the petitioner and permitted the petitioner to bury the same at his village on his own land.
“In order to avoid any law and order situation within the village, the Superintendent of Police, Bastar is also directed to provide appropriate police protection to the petitioner till the dead body is buried decently by the petitioner and his family members”, it further ordered.
Accordingly, the Court allowed the petitioner to bury the dead body of his mother by July 2.
Cause Title- Ramlal Kashyap v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors.