Supreme Court asks Manipur government to ensure cremation and burial of 88 unclaimed bodies

Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Manipur government to ensure the cremation or burial of the unclaimed bodies of 88 people killed in the violence in the state.

The Apex court said that it will not allow attempts “to keep the pot boiling” over dead bodies.

The court further said that if there were no claimants, then the bodies would have to be disposed of with due observance of religious rites by the authorities after obtaining their DNA samples.

Recently, a Supreme Court-appointed committee has strongly given a report to the Apex court that state non-government organizations (NGOs) are preventing the cremation of 88 bodies.

The committee, which is helmed by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Justice Gita Mittal, said that 88 of the 94 unclaimed bodies preserved in three mortuaries are been identified but civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the state were “exerting tremendous pressure” on relatives not to accept the bodies. The kin were willing to perform the last rites, it added.

The committee had sought the Supreme Court’s intervention about the same.

Regarding this turmoil, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud cautioned some civil society organisations (CSOs) working in the state to desist from precipitating the crisis, saying: “The whole idea seems to keep the pot boiling on dead bodies.” The bench also included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

The panel was appointed by the court to oversee the relief and rehabilitation measures for the affected persons and families following a batch of PILs filed seeking appropriate directions to the authorities in the wake of the ethnic violence in Manipur.