The Allahabad High Court ruled that freedom of religion does not guarantee land for a cemetery. The court dismissed a plea from a Christian society in Ghaziabad seeking to convert barren land into a burial ground. Judges said that allotting public land for graveyards remains an executive decision for authorities.
The right to freedom of religion, including performing last rites according to religious beliefs, does not guarantee a community the allotment of a specific plot of land belonging to a local body for a cemetery, the Allahabad high court has ruled while dismissing a Christian body's plea for a burial ground in Ghaziabad.
A division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by the Christian Community Welfare Society challenging the rejection of its request to convert barren land in Ghaziabad into a Christian cemetery.
In its October 12 judgment, the court held that converting land entrusted to a Gaon Sabha or local body into public utility land for a graveyard was an executive decision based on various factors. However, authorities could consider such a request in the larger public interest if there was a shortage of space.
The society, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, had approached the court through its president, Vinay Kumar Paul. One of its stated objectives is to assist Christians in performing last rites.
The dispute concerned 0.3420 hectare of land in Village Visokhar, Pargana Jalalabad, Tehsil Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad, recorded in government records as barren land (usar). The society contended that Christian residents in the surrounding areas were facing hardship in conducting funerals because the existing cemetery at Begamabad Budana was running short of space.
It submitted that the Modi Nagar Nagar Palika Parishad board had passed Resolution No. 11 on January 22, 2018, proposing the allotment of the land for a Christian cemetery. The resolution was forwarded to district authorities, but the land was not reserved for the purpose.
After making several representations and seeking information under the Right to Information Act, 2005, the society had earlier filed a public interest litigation seeking permission to use the land as a graveyard.
Following directions from the high court in those proceedings, the additional district magistrate (administration), Ghaziabad, rejected the request in January this year under Section 77(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006.
The society challenged the order, arguing that the denial of suitable land impaired its members' fundamental right to religious freedom, including performing last rites.
District authorities said the vacant land had never been used as a graveyard, citing residents' concerns over possible communal tensions and the presence of an existing Christian cemetery nearby.