Meghalaya High Court: In a public interest litigation petition regarding the facilitation of the cremation of persons belonging to the Khasi, Jaintia and Hindu communities throughout the State of Meghalaya, in light of dearth of crematoria and unwillingness of members of these communities to share a crematorium with each other, the Division Bench of IP Mukerji and W. Diengdoh, JJ. enlarged the scope of PIL to include the Christian community considering judicial notice of information that various denominations of the Christian faith were facing difficulty in burying their dead.
The Court noted that various denominations of the Christian faith faced similar difficulties in burying their dead in cemeteries. A cemetery controlled by one denomination is not allowing dead bodies of persons belonging to other denominations to be interred in the same cemetery. Resultantly, in various regions of the State, a long distance is to be covered by members of the bereaved family to perform the last rites of the dead.
Hence, considering the same, the Court expanded the scope of the PIL to include the Christian community. The Court directed the Amicus Curiae to hold similar meetings with the District Magistrates concerned and members of the community to resolve the problem faced by the Christian community and file a report. The State was also directed to file a report to indicate whether it has any existing or contemplated proposal of increasing the number of cemeteries for members of the Christian community.
Previously, the Court noted that the Government had proposed to construct a new crematorium in various regions of the State, however, that would take time. In the meantime, the Court directed the Amicus Curiae to hold meetings with the District Magistrates and representatives of the said communities for arriving at some settlement including sharing a crematorium.
In the report submitted by the Amicus Curiae, the Court noted that a temporary solution was found for members of the Khasi and Jaintia communities to share a crematorium amicably with their Hindu brethren by allocation of separate portions of a crematorium to each of these communities.
[Re-Seng Khasi Hima Crematorium v. State of Meghalaya, PIL No.10/2023, decided on: 08-05-2025]
