Srinagar: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on June 27 a plea filed by a man seeking a direction to exhume the body of his son, who was dubbed a terrorist and killed in an encounter in November 2021, and hand it to his family for last rites. Senior Advocate Anand Grover appearing on behalf of Latief Magrey father of the slain Amir Magray submitted before a vacation bench of Justices CT Ravi Kumar and Sudhanshu Dholia that a single-judge bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had allowed the exhuming of the body but it was later stayed by a division bench.
The division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had on June 3 stayed the proceedings of the May 27 decision of the single judge of the High Court in which government officials were directed to exhume the body of Amir Magray. The single judge had said that the right to life as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India includes the right to live with human dignity and decency and treated the body of the deceased with respect.
The court further said that if the condition of the body is very bad, the government should pay a compensation of Rs 500,000 to the petitioner for depriving him of his right to keep his son's body. The decision was stayed by the division bench on the appeal of the Union Territory. The petition before the Supreme Court claims that the order of the Division Bench is in "flagrant violation" of Articles 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India which upholds and protects the right of burial of the deceased by close relatives of religious followers.
The petition states that "even if it is assumed for the argument that the petitioner's son was a militant, it does not matter because he practiced his religious practices under Article 21 and Article 25 of the Constitution and hence deserves a dignified burial and last rites." The petitioner further contradicted the argument of the government that if the body of the petitioner's son was allowed to be exhumed, it would send a negative message and lead to a flood of similar petitions.
"No court is inferior to the Constitutional Court in preventing the possibility of future litigation for the exercise of fundamental rights," the petition said. Bodies of two more civilians, Altaf Ahmad Bhat and Dr. Mudasir Gul, who was killed in the Hyderpora encounter, were exhumed and returned to the families following an outcry days after the gunfight.
Four people were killed in the encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar on November 15, 2021.
Also read: Despite HC order, family of Amir Magrey is still waiting for his body
