VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh high court has said that the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution also includes the right to dignity and it was not confined to living persons but also applicable to the dead. The high court observed that it was very unfortunate that even in the 75th year of Independence, some sections were being deprived of basic facilities such as burial grounds and crematoriums for last rites in a dignified manner.
The high court made the observations in the judgment on allotting land to Scheduled Castes for a burial ground at Pedakakani village in Guntur district.
Justice Battu Devanand said that people living in various colonies in Pedakakani, mostly SCs, have been performing the last rites on the bund of a tank which has been objected to by people from other castes.
Justice Devanand further observed that it was the duty of the state and local governments to ensure the right to life of all citizens irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, region and religion. He said the right to life also included right to dignity even after death.
‘Steps must be taken to allot same land to SCs’
Justice Devanand sent the judgment copy to the chief secretary to conduct a survey across the state.
The judge turned down the petition challenging allotment of 0.24 acres for a burial ground. The petitioners contended that the said land belonged to Hindu crematorium and the officials were allotting it for a Christian cemetery. The petitioner further argued that the farmers would face problems if the land was assigned for cemetery.
The state government filed an affidavit stating the petitioners encroached part of the land assigned for Hindu crematorium. The proposal to allot the said land was prepared as the crematorium was surrounded by a compound wall and the others have been requesting for suitable place for burial ground.
After hearing both sides, the high court disposed the petition directing the authorities to conduct a survey in the presence of the petitioner to find out if the land was encroached. The high court further said that if the petitioner was in possession of land belonging to crematorium, he should be evicted in accordance with law and steps must be taken to allot the same land to people from Scheduled Castes.
