Shillong, July 7: The Meghalaya High Court has ordered the state government for acquiring land for common burial grounds either by acquisition or private treaty.
This development comes after the court expanded the scope of a public interest litigation (PIL) initially focused on crematorium facilities for Khasi, Jaintia, and Hindu communities by including the issue of cemetery sharing among Christian denominations.
In its order passed on Monday, the division bench comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh als directed constitution of a committee to be headedby the Chief Secretary to facilitate meetings between stakeholders, including district councils, churches, administrative officers, and state legal counsel.
The committee will discuss land acquisition for common burial grounds and resolution of disputes regarding sharing cremation grounds.
The bench has observed that there are very few common burial grounds compared to the number of dead and the demand for space for their interment.
“Villages or at least a significant number of them have community land belonging to the village people in common. A part of it may be gifted for common burial purpose. However, substantial land is required across the districts for the above common burial purpose, if any progress is to be made towards solving this problem. These lands need to be acquired by the government through the land acquisition machinery or through private sale or treaty. We direct that immediate steps be taken by the State government to acquire the required area of land for common burial purpose either by acquisition or private treaty,” it said.
“We direct the Amicus Curiae to move the Chief Secretary of the State so that a Committee comprising of a selection of the undermentioned stakeholders in which the Chief Secretary shall be the Chairperson is constituted by him and meeting/meetings be arranged
between all stakeholders, including representatives of the District Councils, representatives of churches/religious orders, administrative
officers, state legal counsel, local functionaries etc. for the purpose of acquisition of land for common burial and for implementation of our orders,” the bench added.
The order was also passed after taking into consideration the meetings held between the Amicus Curiae and the public authorities.
“The result of these meetings appears to be that some Christian denominations, through churches and other religious orders, own private cemeteries. Those denominations having private cemeteries are reluctant to share their cemeteries with other denominations. They have no objection to sharing cemeteries which are acquired by the government or public authority and designated for common burial for all communities irrespective of faith,” the bench stated.
The PIL was initially filed to address the shortage of crematoria and reluctance among Khasi-Jaintia and Hindu communities to share cremation facilities.
After some settlement was reached between these communities, the court discovered similar disputes among Christian denominations over cemetery sharing, prompting an expansion of the PIL’s scope.
The Amicus Curiae has been directed to file a report containing minutes of the meeting before the returnable date of July 30, 2025.
The state government will also pay Rs 1 lakh as ad hoc remuneration to the Amicus Curiae before the returnable date.
