"May Cause Unrest & Disharmony": Chhattisgarh HC Refuses Man's Plea To Perform His Father’s Last Rites As Per Christian Religious Customs In Village’s Common Graveyard
The Chhattisgarh High Court refused permission to a man to carry out his dead father’s last rites in the common graveyard of the village as per Christian Religious Customs by observing that if the relief was granted then the same would cause unrest and disharmony in the public at large.
The High Court made such an observation in view of the fact that a burial ground/graveyard of the Christian community was available in the nearby area where the petitioner could perform the funeral rites of his deceased father.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Bibhu Datta Guru referred to the Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj Adhiniyam, 1993 and explained, “Rule 3 talks of disposal of corpse within 24 hours whereas Rule 4 casts duty upon Gram Panchayat to arrange for disposal of corpse.”
Advocate Kishore Narayan represented the Petitioner while Dy. Adv. General Shri Praveen Das represented the Respondent-State.
The petitioner, who is the son of Subhash Baghel (since deceased) sought a direction to the respondents to permit the petitioner and his family to carry out the last rites of his father's mortal remains as per Christian religious customs at the area earmarked for Christians in the village common graveyard.
The petitioner is a member of the Christian Community belonging to the New Apostolic Church. The petitioner is a third-generation Christian and a resident of Village Chhindawada. Father of the petitioner became a pastor in the year 1986- 87 and since then he has been involved in leading and participating in prayers in the church situated in their village. According to the petitioner, village Chhindawada has a graveyard orally allotted by the traditional Gram Panchayat for the burial/cremation of dead bodies. In this village graveyard, separate areas are earmarked for the burial of Tribals, for burial/cremation.
After the death of his father, the petitioner wanted to hold the last rites of his father and bury his mortal remains in the area specified for Christian persons in the above-mentioned graveyard. It was the Petitioner’s case that some villagers aggressively objected to this and have also not been allowing the Petitioner's family to bury the dead body in the Petitioner's family's privately owned land. Presently the dead body has been kept in the mortuary in the district hospital.
The Dy. Adv. General appearing for the State as also the counsel appearing for the Intervener, submitted that there is no separate graveyard for Christians at village Chhindawada. However, they submitted that there would be no objection if the petitioner performs funeral rites of his deceased father as per his original custom and in such a situation, he will be permitted to perform the funeral rites of his deceased father in a nearby village where a separate burial ground/graveyard of Christian community is available.
On a perusal of the facts and submissions, the Bench noticed that no separate burial ground/graveyard is available for the followers of the Christian community in village Chhindawada. A separate burial ground/graveyard for the followers of the Christian religion is available in village Karkapal, which is situated at a distance of 20-25 km. from village Chhindawada.
The Bench thus disposed of the Petition by observing, “...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.”
Cause Title: Ramesh Baghel v. State Of Chhattisgarh & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025:CGHC:1494)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocate Kishore Narayan
Respondent/State: Dy. Adv. General Praveen Das, Advocate Rohit Sharma
