Is burial of dead bodies allowed in places not designated as burial grounds? Madras High Court refers issue to larger bench

The Madras High Court recently referred to a larger bench the question of whether one can bury the dead at places other than designated burial sites, in view of the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayats (Provision of Burial and Burning Grounds) Rules, 1999 (1999 Rules)..A division bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu was hearing a petition filed by a woman, one Jagadheeswari, challenging a previous order to exhume and relocate the remains of her deceased husband from its current burial site on private land owned by another person, to a designated burial site..The Court noted that on April 24 this year, a single bench presided over by Justice M Dhandapani of the Madras High Court had held that the act of burying the dead body in a place not designated for the said purpose could not be allowed. The single-judge had, therefore, directed that the remains of Jagadheeswari's deceased husband's body be exhumed and buried at a designated burial site. .However, the counsel for Jagadheeswari, advocate NGR Prasad, told the division bench that the provisions of the 1999 Rules and the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 did not contain any prohibition on burying the dead in any place other than a licensed or designated burial ground. He cited an October 2022 order by another division bench of the Madras High Court in P Muthusamy v The District Collector wherein the Court had held that there was no bar on burials in places other than designated sites. .This contention was challenged by senior counsel, V Raghavachari, who appeared for one BB Naidu, the petitioner in the original petition before the single-judge. Raghavachari told the division bench that on a reading of Rule 5 read with Rule 7 of the 1999 Rules, one would realise that burials can take place only at licensed or designated burial grounds. In support of this position, he also referred to various other case-laws from the Madras High Court and one from the Kerala High Court. .The bench led by CJ Gangapurwala noted that the division bench in P Muthusamy's case did not specifically refer to Rules 5 and 4 of the 1999 Rules, even though it has extensively discussed and interpreted Rule 7 of the said Rules. As such, the Court opined that the interpretation in P Muthusamy's case required reconsideration. The Court further observed that in light of the above contrary opinions, the issue should be referred to a larger bench.The question referred to the larger bench was framed as follows:"Whether, under the Rules of 1999, the burial can take place at a place other than the designated land, more particularly when the designated land exists in the village?" .[Read Order]