Youth Bar Association Moves Supreme Court For Directions For Removal Of Dead Bodies In Ganga And To Prevent Throwing Of Bodies Into Any River

Youth Bar Association of India has filed a plea before the Supreme Court seeking directions for appropriate steps to be taken for removal of dead bodies floating in River Ganga and to ensure that no one is allowed to throw bodies into any river as it may cause an environmental hazard.Filed after yesterday's observation by Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud's, pertaining incident in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, wherein a dead body was thrown by two persons into the river, during the Suo Moto COVID case on floating dead bodies in the river, the plea further prays that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) be formulated for the proper and dignified cremation of dead bodies as per rituals. Filed by Advocate Manju Jetley and drawn by Advocates Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, Bably Singh, Paranshu Kaushal and Bhavya Pratap Singh, the plea submits that reports of several bodies found floating in Ganga went viral as India was going through the second wave of the pandemic. It further states that India is a welfare state, which believes in accepting its liability towards securing public welfare and to sub-serve the interest of all its citizens, and therefore it is the duty of the State to protect the rights of the deceased, which includes the Right to Decent Burial/Cremation. "Though there is no specific law in India, which protects the rights of dead person, but this Hon'ble Court in the case of Parmanand Katara v. Union of India, had recognized the Right to Life, fair treatment and dignity, derived from Article 21 of the Constitution of India also extends not only to a living person but also to the dead bodies".The plea also relies upon the case of Ashray Abhiyan v. Union of India wherein it had been held that the dignity of a dead person must be maintained and respected, and this right was extended to homeless deceased persons to have a decent cremation according to their religious customs. "In both natural and unnatural deaths, i.e. suicide, accident, homicide, etc., it is the State which is vested with the duty to protect the rights of the deceased and to prevent the crime over the dead bodies. It is also required that the State Governments and Union Government must prepare a SOP in the consultation with all the stakeholders so that dignity of the deceased is protected". The plea also refers to the 14th May, 2021 guidelines issued by the National Human Rights Commission pertaining to handling of dead bodies and seeks for institution of the same. It also highlights the sacred nature of River Ganga and, submits that various environmental and health hazards will inevitably crop up due to the dead bodies. In light of the above, the plea seeks directions to the Central and State Governments to take appropriate measures to ensure removal of the dead bodies and to ensure that no one is permitted to throw the bodies into the river. Further, it seeks for an SOP for proper and dignified cremation of dead bodies as per the rituals. Recently, another plea was filed before the Supreme Court seeking directions for constitution of a three-tier committee at Centre, State and Panchayat level to look after disposal of bodies with dignity, and to declare Ganga river bed an ecologically sensitive area, to be protected and preserved.Click Here To Download/Read Writ Petition

Youth Bar Association Moves Supreme Court For Directions For Removal Of Dead Bodies In Ganga And To Prevent Throwing Of Bodies Into Any River

Radhika Roy

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