[Chennai,TN]Last Rites Only In Notified Places :Madras High Court
The Madras High Court has observed that burial or burning of bodies can take place only in notified places.
A bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and K Ravichandrabaabu made the observation while disposing of a petition from T K Palanisamy.
The plea had sought a direction for restraining authorities concerned from granting permission or passing orders to use a ‘vandi pathai’ (cart track) at Kolathupalayam village in Tiruppur district, which is earmarked for road purposes, as a burial ground.
The government pleader (GP) submitted that the land in question had been classified in revenue records as a cart track and that from 2013, only three bodies were buried in the corner of the track.
Except for these three, there has not been any incident of burial of bodies
The petitioner’s counsel submitted that within 2 km from the area, there was an electric crematorium set up by the municipality with all facilities and therefore, the local residents could very well use the same.
The GP added that the cart track was to be converted into a full-fledged road by laying a tar road.
“In the light of the above, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to ensure that no dead bodies are burnt in the land in question and that the same shall be maintained as a cart track,” the bench ruled.