To curb the increasing incidents of demonstration for unjustified demands by not taking possession or putting dead bodies on the road, the Rajasthan government has come up with ‘The Rajasthan Honour of Dead Body Bill. The bill was presented in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on Tuesday and will be discussed in a day or two.
The bill said "without prejudice of any other law for the time being in force, every dead person shall have the right to a decent and timely last rites according to the known and prevailing tradition or custom of the community or religion, as soon as possible."
Dignity in death for unclaimed dead bodies
The bill has been presented in light of the Supreme Court directions in the case of Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan V/s Union of India in which the apex court has directed for decent burial or cremation of the unclaimed dead bodies.
"Dignity with which a living human being is expected to be treated, should also be extended to a person who is dead and the right to accord decent burial or cremation to the dead body of a person, should be taken to be a part of the right to such dignity," said the statement of objects and reasons of the bill.
The bill also provides for keeping the record of unclaimed bodies, protection of genetic data information through DNA profiling and digitization and confidentiality of information.
Last rights will be performed by Public Authority, if not family
The bill provides that the family members of the deceased have to ensure that the last rites are performed as soon as possible and will not use the dead body for demonstration or give consent to any other person for the same. "If the family members do not perform the last rites of the dead body, the last rites shall be performed by the Public Authority," said the provisions of the bill.
The bill has penal provisions also in case of a violation of the law. In case of not taking possession of the dead body or use of the dead body for the demonstration, the family member concerned of the deceased shall be punished with imprisonment of six months to two years.
Notably, cases of remonstration with dead bodies on the road for compensation and other demands have been taking place in every part of the state. The most talked about incident in this regard was of gangster Anandpal a few years ago whose body was kept for about a month by the family members and community leaders demanding a CBI probe of his encounter.
The government expects that the said bill, apart from providing dignity to dead bodies, will also work as a deterrent against the rising trend of remonstrations and also work towards the protection of data relating to unclaimed bodies.
