Mumbai's state government and civic body are disciplined by the Bombay High Court for their lack of burial space

The Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have received harsh criticism from the Bombay High Court for their careless behavior, highlighting how important it is to treat the departed with the same respect as the living. The court emphasized that under Article 21 of the Constitution, people have the right to be buried with dignity.

Three citizens of Govandi, Shamsher Ahmed, Abrar Chaudhari, and Abdul Rehman Shah, submitted a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition asking for more burial grounds for the area's eastern suburbs. The plea was being heard by the bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor. The petitioners' attorney, Altaf Khan, emphasized that the closure of the existing burial grounds in Deonar and Rafiq Nagar was owing to the bodies not decomposing.

Khan listed three potential cemetery locations: one behind Rafiq Nagar, a former dumping site, another next to an existing ground in Deonar, and a third roughly eight kilometers from Govandi's major population center in Anik village.

BMC's attorney, Ram Apte, informed the court that talks to purchase the land in Anik Village from Oswal Agro Mills Limited (formerly Union Carbide) were still going on. Judge Upadhyaya responded, "Do whatever, negotiate with them."

BMC indicated that clearing the land for a cemetery would cost approximately Rs 200 crore, which made the situation difficult.

Abhay Patki, a state lawyer, had mentioned that the state had initially chosen to assign its land near the current cemetery for uses other than a new cemetery. "Such a lax attitude from both BMC and the state is unacceptable," said Chief Justice Upadhyaya. Do such matters require judicial orders? You were supposed to handle this obligation. You need to have paid attention to such matters.

The court mandated that the Urban Development Department of the Maharashtra government provide justification for the delay in designating the Deonar burial ground for the construction of a new cemetery. The state and BMC must both describe the steps taken to give the general public a respectable place for death rites.