Patna HC Takes Suo Moto Cognizance Of Bihar Cops Dumping Accident Victim’s Dead Body Into A Canal In Muzaffarpur

Quoting British statesman William Ewart Gladstone, a division bench of Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Rajiv Roy expressed its disappointment with the way the policemen acted in the incident.

"Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the law of the land and their loyalty to high ideals", said Sir William E. Gladstone. We are definite that going by the manner the Police had acted in the tagged incident, it is a sad reflection of our society,” the bench remarked.

In its order, referring to the National Human Rights Commission’s Advisory for 'Upholding the Dignity & Protecting the Rights of the Dead', the Court said that bodies, without life, are dispensable repositories of the soul and hence, a little more respect and a lot more dignity in their disposal is required.

Against this backdrop, the Court directed the Union and the State to place on record the guidelines for dignified disposal of the dead bodies, if any, formulated and if not, to formulate the same and produce it within two weeks.

The Court has also directed the DGP to place on record the action taken against the erring officials. With this, the matter has been posted for hearing on October 31.

It may be noted that a video of the said incident had gone viral on social media on October 8 in which three Bihar policemen, now suspended, were seen dumping the remains of an accident victim into a canal near the outpost area of Muzaffarpur district.

As per the media reports, the victim had died in a road accident near Dhodhi Canal bridge. After receiving the information about the accident, the policemen of the concerned police station reached the spot and threw the body into a canal.