MP High Court Orders Status Quo In Plea For Exclusive Burial Ground For Muslim Community

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the State authorities to maintain status quo over a graveyard located in district Katni's Sleemnabad while hearing a plea seeking to protect the burial rights of the Muslim community and to declare the graveyard as exclusive burial ground.

The division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf directed;

"Issue notice. Notice is accepted by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondents. List the matter on 08.01.2026. In the meantime, respondents shall maintain status quo in respect of subject land comprising in the graveyard".

The petitioner, cashier of the local Masjid, in his petition asserted that the muslim community has been using the said graveyard for about 300 to 350 years. The land in question was also recorded in the revenue records. However, since the main land (khasra no 53) was full of graves, the adjoining portion of land (khasra no 54) was being used as a burial ground for the last 150 years. The total area of khasra no 54 is 7 acres, out of which 3 acres contain at least 1000 graves of muslims.

The said portion of land was previously fenced using pointed hedges, but it was subsequently fortified with barbed wire about 30 to 40 years ago, which is also clearly mentioned in the Patwari report of the year 2000.

The petition alleged that on September 14, some antisocial elements disturbed the boundary of the land. The community filed a complaint to the In Charge of Sleemnabad Police Station. It was alleged that three complaints were filed against the petitioners. When the petitioners were repairing the boundary of the said land, they were informed that a stay order was passed by the Tehsildar on September 3, 2025. The petition claimed that the petitioners were not given any opportunity of hearing before the Tehsildar.

The petition further specified that the Muslims of Sleemnabad have no other graveyard except the disputed one. 'The muslim community has become a shuttlecock from one revenue authority to the other', the petition stated.

Thus, the petitioner sought directions against the State to ensure that all Muslims of Sleemnabad have a respectable burial ground for their dead and to declare khasra no 54 to be the exclusive property of the muslim community to be used as a burial ground.

Case Title: Nisar Beg v State of Madhya Pradesh [WP no 49345 of 2025]

For Petitioners: Senior Advocate Narinder Pal Singh Ruprah and Advocate Rahul Kumar Choudhary

For State: Deputy Advocate General Vivek Sharma

Click here to read/download the Order