At least after death, there should not be any caste based discrimination: Madras High Court calls for common burial grounds

The Madras High Court recently asked the Tamil Nadu government to consider ending the practice of having designated, caste based burial and cremation grounds at village and district levels across the State [P Muthusamy v Mrs B Vennila]. .In an order passed on November 21, Justices R Subramanian and K Kumaresh Babu said that at least after death, one must be spared of caste based discrimination."Though 75 years have passed since independence, we are unable to break the shackles of casteism and even the secular Government is forced to provide for separate burning and burial grounds on communal lines. Equality has to commence at least when the person travels to his/her maker," the Court said.The Court, therefore, said that the government that represents a "secular state" must consider constructing common burial grounds in villages and districts, without any caste based distinction.The court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by some villagers from Salem district seeking implementation of a writ court's order permitting the tehsil level authorities to exhume a dead body that had been buried at a plot of land, which was not a designated burial ground for the "Scheduled Caste and the Backward class communities,"The Court was also seized of a batch of pleas challenging that order.The writ court had allowed the pleas by some residents of the same village, who had claimed that the appellants in the present case had buried the dead body of their mother on a plot of land that was actually a designated 'cart lane.' The appellants, however, argued that while there were two designated burial grounds in the village, one for SC/STs and OBCs, and the other for the remaining communities, it was common practice for their community to bury the dead at the said plot. The plot in question was not entirely a cart lane, the appellants contended. They told the court that while the cart lane ran through the middle of the plot, the dead from the community had been buried on the left side of the cart lane. They also submitted a list of the dead, whose bodies had been buried on that left side. The Tamil Nadu government told the Court that there was no State imposed restriction on burials at undesignated burial grounds at the Panchayat level. Such restrictions were applicable only within city limits, the government said..The State also said that the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat (Provision of Burial and Burning Grounds) Rules, 1999 only prohibited burials or cremations at sites within 90 metres from a dwelling unit, or a source of drinking water supply. The Court took note of the same and said that in the absence of a law prohibiting burials outside of designated burial grounds in villages, no orders for exhuming the body could be passed. It further noted the prevalence of several customs across the State when it comes to cremating and burying the dead. Where there were no designated burial and cremation sites, the customs of the village prevailed, the Court said.It, therefore, set aside the writ court order. .Before parting, the Court underlined that the State government must take steps to end such casteist practice. "But even in the Twenty First Century, we are left grappling with casteism and classification based on caste is made even in matters of burial of the dead. This situation has to change and the change should be for the better. We sincerely hope that the Government of the day would come forward to make a beginning by making at least burial grounds and burning grounds common to all communities," the high court said. Advocate NGR Prasad for M/s Row & Reddy appeared for the Appellants seeking implementation of the lower court's order.Additional Government Pleader Vadivelu Deenadayalan, and advocates G Poonkundran and P Anbarasan appeared for the original respondents, the state and tehsil level authorities.[Read Judgment]