As Villagers Object, Chhattisgarh High Court Declines Christian Man's Plea To Perform Father's Last Rites In Common Graveyard

The Chhattisgarh High Court on Thursday (09 January) turned down the plea of a Christian man seeking permission and police protection for performing last rites of his deceased father at the village common graveyard, as villagers aggressively protested against the same and threatened him of dire consequences.The Bench of Justice Bibhu Datta Guru rejected the prayer apprehending any untoward situation in the village and observed –“…considering the fact that burial ground/graveyard of Christian community is available in nearby area, it will not be proper to grant relief as sought for by petitioner in this writ petition, which may cause unrest and disharmony in the public at large.”Case BackgroundThe father of the petitioner died on 07.01.2025 of old age illness. After his death, the petitioner and his family members intended to perform his last rites in the area specified for Christian persons in the village common graveyard. Upon learning about the same, some villagers aggressively objected to the performance of last rites and threatened the petitioner and his family of dire consequences. They further did not allow the Petitioner to bury the dead body in the petitioner's privately owned land as the villagers claimed that a Christian person cannot be buried in their village be it at village graveyard or the petitioner's own private land.When the villagers turned violent, the petitioner's family made a report to the police however it is alleged that the police also exerted pressure on the Petitioner's family to take the body out of the village and threatened to take legal action against the petitioner and his family if the dead body is buried in the village.The petitioner had, therefore, made an application seeking protection and help from the respondent authorities for ensuring peaceful burial of his father in the Christian burial area of village Chhindawada. As the petitioner did not get any relief, he approached the High Court stating that as per the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Gram Panchayat (Regulating Places for Disposal of Dead Bodies, Carcasses and Other Offensive Matter) Rules, 1999 ['the 1999 Rules'], a duty is cast on the Gram Panchayat to facilitate disposal of dead bodies in accordance with the custom of the deceased person's religion.During the course of hearing, the Deputy Advocate General submitted that there is no separate graveyard for Christians at village Chhindawada. However, he assured that there will be no objection if the petitioner performs the last rites of his deceased father in a nearby village Karkapal, situated at a distance of 20-25 KMs from village Chhindawada, where a separate burial ground/grave yard of Christian community is available.Court's ObservationsThe Court went through the relevant provisions under the 1999 Rules i.e. Rule 3 talks of disposal of corpse within 24 hours whereas Rule 4 casts duty upon Gram Panchayat to arrange for disposal of corpse and Rule 5 provides for places for disposal of corpse.While examining the tenability of argument of the petitioner as to permission of burial of the dead body in private land, the Court referred to a Full Bench judgment of Madras High Court in Jagadheeswari v. B. Babu Naidu which considered the legal question as whether burial can take place at a place other than the designated land, more particularly when the designated land exists in the village.The Bench therein had examined the provisions under the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat (Provision of Burial and Burning Grounds) Rules 1999 to hold that rules cannot be construed as right to bury body anywhere and everywhere and burials made at places that are not registered or licensed as Burial Grounds contravenes the rules and such bodies are to be exhumed and buried in proper designated places.Considering the aforesaid observations vis-à-vis the facts of the present case, the Court noted that as a separate burial ground is available for the followers of Christian religion at a distance of 20-25 KMs, it would not be not be proper to allow the petitioner to perform the last rites of his deceased father in his village graveyard, which may cause 'unrest and disharmony' in the public at large.Accordingly, the writ petition was disposed of.Case Title: Ramesh Baghel v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors.Case No: WPC No. 152 of 2025Date of Order: January 09, 2025Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Kishore Narayan, Advocate Counsel for the Respondents: Mr. Praveen Das, Deputy Advocate General; Mr. Rohit Sharma, AdvocateCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Chh) 4Click Here To Read/Download Order

As Villagers Object, Chhattisgarh High Court Declines Christian Man's Plea To Perform Father's Last Rites In Common Graveyard

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