Undesignated spot for burial: Larger bench to hear petition

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has transferred the appeal petition seeking permission to use an undesignated spot for burial to a larger bench.

Referring to the case, the division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu, asked if, under the Panchayat Act, 1999, the burial can take place at a place other than the designated land, more particularly when the designated land exists in the village.

The appellant, Mageshwari of Nochili village, Tiruvallur, moved the Madras High Court (MHC) challenging the judgment pronounced by a single judge of the High Court on April 28, 2023. The respondent Ramesh from the same village filed a petition in High Court by stating that the petitioner had buried the body of her deceased husband in an undesignated place even though there is a separate burial place. The single judge directed the government to exhume the body and relocate it to the burial ground.

The petitioner’s counsel during the appeal said that the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayat Act, 1999, do not contain a prohibition to bury the dead person in a place other than a designated burial ground.