Residents of a local authority cannot claim burial or cremation rights in another local authority: HC

The court was hearing a petition filed by residents of Bommaiahgoundanpatti, which is part of Theni-Allinagaram municipality.

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court held that those residing within the territorial limits of a local body cannot claim the right of burial/cremation at a burial ground/cremation vested in another local body.

However, such a right is enforceable if it is in the nature of a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution or customary law, said a division bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and KK Ramakrishnan.

The court was hearing a petition filed by residents of Bommaiahgoundanpatti, which is part of Theni-Allinagaram municipality.

According to the petitioners, they cremated their dead at a cremation ground in Sukkuvadanpatti, a village of Oonchampatti panchayat.

The petitioners alleged that the residents of Sukkuvadanpatti are preventing them from exercising their right to cremation at Shmashana, which is vested in Oonchampatti village panchayat. Counsel for the petitioners submitted that it would be more convenient for its residents to use the Sukkuvadanpatti cremation ground.

A meeting of the peace committee was held. As the residents of Sukkuvadanpatti made it clear that they would not relax their stand, the petition was filed.

The court said that Section 110(f) of the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act, 1994 states that the village panchayat has a duty to take reasonable steps to meet the requirements of the village panchayat for opening and maintaining burial grounds and crematoriums.

A local authority takes action to meet the demands of its residents. Non-residents do not figure in the matter of statutory functions envisaged in Section 110 of the Act, the court said.

Rule 7(2) of the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayats (Provision of Burial Grounds and Cremation Grounds) Rules, 1999 states that a person in control of a place for burial or cremation shall give information about every burial or cremation of a corpse at such place to any officer appointed by the village panchayat for the purpose, the court said.

Under the provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969, every death will have to be notified and registered. Cemeteries and cremation grounds will have to keep registers and they will have to be properly entered. Death certificates are issued based on such records, the court said.

There must be regular coordination between those responsible for burial grounds and cremations and local authorities. Statutory functions can only be properly exercised if the right of burial or cremation at a designated place is restricted to residents of the local authority concerned, the court said.

The judges said that while we are of the view that he cannot be required as a matter of law to be cremated or buried in a crematorium or burial ground which is included in a panchayat of which he is not a resident, we must add an important caveat. If custom recognizes that a particular place is sacred ground open to Hindus regardless of their residential status, it would move the issue into the realm of fundamental rights.

Here, the petitioners did not base their case on Article 25 of the Constitution. Convenience is the reason they appeal. An enforceable right cannot be built on this basis, the court said.

The residents of Bommaiahgoundanpatti neither raised a claim under Article 25 of the Constitution nor proved the existence of any customary law. Therefore, we are of the view that they are not entitled to claim the right of cremation at Sukkuvadanpatti crematorium/burial ground, the judges said and dismissed the petition.

Published – 17 Jul 2026 22:51 IST