'We Understand Sentiment But...': SC On Reburial Of Pakistani Sufi Saint Buried In Bangladesh

The Indian top court has dismissed the plea seeking transportation and reburial of Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Muhammad Abdul Muqtadir Shah Masood Ahmad, who was laid to rest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2022. Ahmad, who was a priest here in India, obtained Pakistani citizenship in 1992. He had left a will, desiring to be buried in the shrine where he was elected as a sajjada-nahsin (an administrator).

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking the transportation of the mortal remains of Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Muhammad Abdul Muqtadir Shah Masood Ahmad, a Pakistani national, who died in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2022.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked the petitioner’s counsel, he is a Pakistani citizen and he is buried in Dhaka, and how can you expect the Union of India to rebury him in India?

The counsel argued that she understands the concern and today, he has no family in Pakistan, whereas the Dargah here, in Uttar Pradesh, he was the sajjada-nashin(an administrator or a caretaker of a religious school), and urged the court to consider the plea filed Dargah Hazrat Mulla Syed. “If Bangladesh allows exhumation, the question today is whether the Union of India would permit the transportation of the body to India for the purpose of burial”, she argued.

CJI said how can the court allow this, since he was a Pakistani national and added that there is no legal right. The counsel stressed that her client had made representations to the Union of India, but no reply has been received so far. “There is no substance in it. How can anybody, who is not a citizen of India, either his family or followers, or group say that we want to bury him here”, said the CJI.

The counsel said the grave in Bangladesh is not tended to, which is a concern, because there are no followers. “We understand the sentiment but we have to go by enforceable constitutional right”, said the CJI. The counsel said for the sajjada-nashin to be buried in the dargah is the customary right, which the dargah is enforcing.

The plea contended that he was elected as the 'sajjada-nashin' of the shrine viz. Dargah Hazrat Mulla Syed Mohammad Shah in 2008 in Prayagraj and he executed his will in 2021 expressing a desire to be buried in the shrine. He got Pakistani citizenship in 1992.

The apex court said there are difficulties in entertaining such a petition and he was a Pakistani citizen and has no constitutional right and added that the practical difficulties related to exhumation. The apex court said as a matter of first principle, it would not be right for it to direct the transportation of the mortal remains of a citizen of a foreign state to India.

“As a matter of first principle, it would not be right for this court to direct the transportation of the mortal remains of a citizen of a foreign state in India,” said the bench, dismissing the petition.