[Hyderpora encounter] Father moves Jammu & Kashmir High Court for Amir Magray's body

A plea has been filed before the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court seeking directions to the Union of India to exhume the body of Amir Magray, one of the four persons killed in the Hyderpora encounter [Mohd Latief Magray V/s Union of India and others]..The plea filed by Magray's father prayed that the body be handed over to him so that he can give Magray a decent burial.The father submitted that he wishes to bury Magray close to his house so that he can visit the grave for prayers."I wish to bury my son close to my house," the father said.According to the plea, on November 18 the respondents exhumed bodies of two of the deceased Dr. Mudassir Gul and Altaf Bhat and handed over the same to their families. Yet, they remained tight-lipped over the remains of Amir Magray and categorically refused to handover the same to the petitioner."The respondents claimed that Amir and Dr. Mudasir Gul were associated with terrorists, but later on the respondents exhumed body of Dr. Mudasir and returned it to the family. Moot point here arises if they had returned body of Dr. Mudasir, why did not they return body of Amir, who was working as a helper in the office of Dr. Mudasir," the plea demanded..Four people were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Hyderpora by the J&K Police on November 15 in an encounter.While the police claimed that two of them (one being Magray) were militants and two others "over ground workers", the families of the deceased disputed the same and claimed that they were innocent. After protests by the families and a public outcry, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident on November 18..The petition filed through advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat stated that the right to life includes the right to live with human dignity, and such dignity and respect apply to dead bodies as well. "Government needs to respect to respect a deceased person by allowing the body of such a dead person to be treated with the same respect and dignity as given to any alive person," the petitioner submitted..The counsel for the petitioner cited several judgments, including Common Cause v. Union of India and ors. wherein it was held by the Supreme Court that the right to live with human dignity extends even beyond death, and the same dignity should be extended to the deceased by allowing proper burial..The plea also relied on Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan v. Union of India in which it was reiterated that the right to a decent burial is a fundamental right, and burial should be done as per religious rules or demands..The petitioner-father alleged in the plea that the respondents have not given a chance to the family to see their killed son's face one last time.