A man reached the Supreme Court demanding the burial of his/her father’s dead body, know what is the whole matter

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it was saddened to see that a man was forced to approach the apex court to bury his/her father as per Christian rituals in a village in Chhattisgarh. The authorities failed to resolve the issue. Justice B. The bench of V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma was hearing a petition filed on behalf of Ramesh Baghel. The High Court had rejected the request to bury Christians in the village cemetery.

The body has been kept in the postmortem house since January 7.

The Supreme Court bench said that why should a person not be allowed to bury his/her dead body in his/her own village? The body has been kept in the postmortem house since January 7, but sadly the victim had to come to the Supreme Court. It is unfortunate that the Panchayat, the State Government and the High Court could not resolve this matter. The High Court’s comment that there could be a law and order problem surprises us. During the hearing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared in the court on behalf of the state government.

What argument did Tushar Mehta give?

Tushar Mehta told the court, ‘There was no separate cemetery for Christians and the body could be buried at a place 20 kilometers away from the village. During this, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Baghel, said that it is clear from the affidavit submitted by the state that other members of his/her family were also buried in the village itself. Gonsalves, citing the affidavit, said the deceased was not being allowed to be buried because he/she was a Christian.

To this, Mehta said that Baghel was adamant on burying his/her father in his/her family’s village graveyard, lest it create unrest between tribal Hindus and tribal Christians. Gonsalves opposed this, saying that this was the beginning of the expulsion of Christians. Mehta said the issue should not be decided on the basis of emotions and he/she was ready to have a detailed debate on the matter. The Supreme Court has fixed January 22 as the next date for hearing.

‘Gram Panchayat had given the land verbally’

Citing a certificate issued by the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, the High Court said that there is no separate cemetery for Christians. The court then refused to grant permission, stressing that it could create unrest and disagreement at the public level. The priest died due to old age. According to petitioner Baghel, there was a graveyard in Chhindwara village which was verbally allotted by the Gram Panchayat for the burial and cremation of dead bodies. This cemetery had separate areas marked for the burial of tribals, for the burial or cremation of people belonging to the Hindu religion and for the burial of persons belonging to the Christian community.

The petition said that the petitioner and his/her family members wanted to perform the last rites in the area which was earmarked for Christian persons. Hearing this, some of the villagers protested aggressively and threatened the petitioner and his/her family with dire consequences if they buried the petitioner’s father in this land. The petitioner said that the people of the village are not allowing the petitioner’s family to bury the dead body even in their privately owned land.