The supreme court heard the case of burying the body of a pastor in a village in Chhindwara on wednesday (January 22, 2025). Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said on behalf of the chhattisgarh government that in this way, tomorrow a Hindu can insist on cremation in a Muslim cemetery. He said that what will happen if tomorrow someone argues that his ancestors were Muslims and later adopted Hinduism, so he should be allowed to do cremation in a Muslim cemetery.
According to the Bar and Bench report, the petitioner's father was a Hindu who later adopted Christianity. SG Tushar Mehta said in the court, 'In this way, tomorrow a Hindu can also insist on cremation in a Muslim cemetery by arguing that his ancestors were Muslims and later adopted Hinduism. So what will happen? The state government believes that this is a matter of public order and public order is an exception to Article 25.' He said that the state government is ready to take the body of the petitioner's father to the Christian cemetery and ambulance arrangements will also be made for that.
SG Tushar Mehta, while presenting the side of the state government, told the court, 'The Christian cemetery is 15 km away from the village and there is space for 100-200 bodies. There is one cemetery for 3-4 villages, whose area is 4-5 acres. SG Tushar Mehta said that as far as the village cemetery is concerned, that place is for Hindu tribals, not for Christians. At the same time, petitioner Ramesh Baghel's lawyer Colin Gonsalves claims that the cemetery is for all communities and there is a designated place for the petitioner's family.
After hearing the arguments of both the parties, the supreme court said that it hopes to find an amicable solution and perform the last rites of the pastor in a respectable manner. The court reserved its decision on the petition of the pastor's son. The body of the pastor has been kept in the mortuary since january 7. A bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma was hearing a petition filed by a man named Ramesh Baghel. The petitioner has challenged an order of the chhattisgarh High Court. The high court had disposed of his petition requesting to bury the body of his pastor father in the area designated for burial of Christians in the village cemetery. The court said, 'The body is in the mortuary for 15 days, please find a solution. The deceased should be cremated with respect. A solution should be found by mutual consent.' Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the chhattisgarh government, argued that the body should be buried in the area designated for Christian tribals, which is located about 20-30 kilometers from the family's Chhindwara village.
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