The Supreme Court has taken a strong stance against allegations that tribal Christians in Chhattisgarh are being forcibly exhumed from their graves and reburied elsewhere. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and N.V. Anjaria issued an interim order staying any further exhumation and asked the Chhattisgarh government to respond to the matter within four weeks.
Court Directs: No More Bodies Will Be Taken Out
During the hearing, the three-judge bench said, “In the meantime, it should be ensured that no further action to take out the buried bodies will be allowed.”
The order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) claiming that tribal Christians are being prevented from burying their deceased relatives in their ancestral villages, while other communities face no such restriction.
Petitioners Allege Forcible Exhumation
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the petitioners, told the court about disturbing incidents. He said the body of a petitioner’s mother was exhumed without her family’s knowledge and buried elsewhere. In another case, the corpse of a petitioner’s husband was reportedly taken by villagers from the majority community and reburied at a distant location.
“This inhuman process of forcibly removing bodies from graves must be stopped immediately,” Gonsalves argued before the court.
Violation of Fundamental Rights
The PIL, filed by the Chhattisgarh Association for Justice and Equality through advocate Satya Mitra, claims that these acts violate the fundamental rights under Articles 14, 21, and 25 of the Constitution. It argues that forcibly moving bodies over 50 kilometres away is cruel, degrading, and discriminatory against tribal Christians.
Read More: Two Christian Families Allegedly Beaten, Forced to Leave Village in Chhattisgarh
The petitioners demand that the state government and any private individual be restrained from disrupting last rites. It also calls for all gram panchayats to set aside specific areas in each village for burials of all communities and, where possible, establish common graveyards to promote secularism and equality.
Allegations Against Police and Administration
The PIL further alleges that Chhattisgarh’s police and local administration have failed to protect citizens’ rights and, in some cases, supported communal elements in forcibly exhuming bodies. The petition cites a January 2025 Supreme Court ruling in Ramesh Baghel v. State of Chhattisgarh, which gave a split verdict on the burial of a Christian priest. Petitioners claim that local authorities are now using that ruling to prevent tribal Christians from burying their dead in their villages.
The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing in four weeks. Until then, all further exhumations in Chhattisgarh have been stayed.
“All persons, irrespective of religion, caste, or SC/ST/OBC status, should be free to bury their deceased in the villages where they live,” the petition states.
