Madras HC limits cremation rights to residents of concerned local body

Madurai, July 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ruled that residents of one local body cannot claim, as a matter of right, to bury or cremate their dead in a burial or cremation ground maintained by another local body merely on grounds of convenience.

However, the court clarified that such a right may still be enforceable if it is protected as a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution or is supported by a long‑standing and recognised customary practice.

A Division Bench comprising Justices G.R. Swaminathan and K.K. Ramakrishnan delivered the ruling while dismissing a petition filed by residents of Bommaiahgoundanpatti, which falls under the Theni‑Allinagaram Municipality in Theni district.

The petitioners contended that they had traditionally cremated their dead at the cremation ground located in Sukkuvadanpatti, a hamlet within the Oonchampatti Village Panchayat. They alleged that residents of Sukkuvadanpatti had recently objected to their continued use of the facility and prevented them from performing cremations there. The petitioners argued that the cremation ground was more accessible and convenient for their village.

Before the matter reached court, officials convened a peace committee meeting in an attempt to resolve the dispute. However, the residents of Sukkuvadanpatti refused to change their stand, prompting the petitioners to seek judicial intervention.

Examining the statutory framework, the Bench referred to Section 110(f) of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994, which casts a duty on every village panchayat to establish and maintain burial and burning grounds for the needs of its own residents. The judges observed that the legislation does not contemplate extending such facilities as a statutory obligation to non‑residents.

The court also relied on the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayats (Provision of Burial and Burning Grounds) Rules, 1999, which require those in charge of cremation and burial grounds to maintain records of every burial or cremation and report them to officers appointed by the village panchayat. These records are closely linked to the registration of deaths under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, making coordination between burial grounds and local authorities essential.

The judges held that restricting the use of a cremation ground to residents of the concerned local body enables authorities to discharge their statutory responsibilities effectively. At the same time, the Bench clarified that the position would be different if a cremation or burial ground had acquired the status of a consecrated place open to all Hindus by established custom. In such cases, the issue could fall within the protection of Article 25 of the Constitution.

Since the petitioners based their claim solely on convenience and neither invoked Article 25 nor established any customary right over the Sukkuvadanpatti cremation ground, the court held that they had no enforceable legal right to use the facility and dismissed the petition.

Source: IANS