MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has held that residents of a local body cannot demand as a matter of right that they be cremated or buried in a cremation or burial ground that is vested with another local body.
“Such a right is enforceable only if it partakes the character of a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution or a customary right,” the court added.
A bench of justices GR Swaminathan and KK Ramakrishnan made the observations recently on a petition filed by a group of villagers belonging to Bommaiahgoundanpatti village in Theni-Allinagaram municipality. The petitioners stated that they have been cremating their dead in the cremation ground located in Sukkuvadanpatti, a hamlet of Oonchampatti panchayat, which is close to their hamlet.
Since objections were raised by the Sukkuvadanpatti villagers and the issue could not be resolved through peace committee meetings, the petitioners sought the court’s intervention.
The judges noted that the villagers of Sukkuvadanpatti had joined together and purchased a piece of land, built a crematorium and handed it over to their local body. As on date, the crematorium is only vested with Oonchampatti village panchayat.
The Theni-Allinagaram municipality has its own gasified crematorium. Hence, the residents of Bommaiahgoundanpatti have an enforceable right only against the said crematorium and not the one in Sukkuvadanpatti village, the judges opined.
Moreover, a right has to be derived either from the Constitution or a statute, custom, or a contract or it should have been recognised by courts.
But, the residents of Bommaiahgoundanpatti have not made a claim under the Constitution nor have they proved the existence of any customary right, they pointed out.
They also took note of the fact that burial and cremation grounds will have to maintain registers to record the deaths and death certificates are issued on the basis of such entries.
These statutory functions can be properly discharged only if the right of burial or cremation in the designated place is confined to the inhabitants of the local body concerned, they observed and dismissed the petition.