The Supreme Court on Monday declined a man’s appeal to bury his father — a pastor in Chhattisgarh’s Chhindwada who converted to Christianity — at his village's burial ground which Hindu tribals have claimed is earmarked for them and directed that he be laid to rest at a cemetery in Karkapal around 25km away.

The bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma delivered a split verdict on Ramesh Baghel’s petition challenging an order of Chattisgarh High Court disposing of his plea seeking to bury his father, Subhash Baghel, in Chhindwada.

A section of the tribal population of the village had objected on the ground that Subhash was a converted Christian and therefore could not be buried in the local burial ground meant for Hindu tribals. Subhash's body has been lying in a mortuary for 20 days.

While Justice Nagarathna said the burial should be held in the family’s private agricultural land, Justice Sharma said the last rites shouldbe performed at the Christian cemetery 25km from thevillage.

“There is no consensus between the members of this bench on the place of resting of the appellant’s father who died on January 7, 2025. Bearing in mind the fact that the deceased has been kept in a mortuary for the last three weeks since January 7 and in order to accord an expeditious and dignified burial of the deceased, we agree to issue the following directions in exercise of our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India,” the bench said.

The bench asked the respondent state and its local authorities to ensure that the appellant and his family were provided logistical support to transfer the body from the morgue of a medical college in Jagdalpur to the burial ground at Karkapal.

The apex court also passed directions for adequate police protection by the state government to ensure the burial took place at the earliest.

“The directions issued by this bench are with regard to the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case and bearing in mind judicial stewardship and to alleviate the predicament and suffering of the appellant and his family,” it said.

Bail rap on HC

The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on Allahabad High Court for failing to “muster” the courage to grant bail to a Muslim clergy, Maulvi Syed Shad Kazmi alias Mohd Shad, accused of converting a mentally challenged boy at a madrasain Uttar Paradesh’s Kanpur district.

The offence entails a punishment of 7-to-14 years in jail.

“Having heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties and having gone through the materials on record, we are of the view that the high court should have exercised its discretion by granting bail to the petitioner. There was no good reason for the high court to decline bail. The offence alleged is not that serious or grave like murder, dacoity, rape, etc,” the bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan said.

“We can understand that the trial court declined bail as trial courts seldom muster the courage of granting bail, be it any offence. However, at least, it was expected of the high court to muster the courage and exercise its discretion judiciously,” the bench added.

The bench passed the order while allowing an appeal filed by Kazmi challenging the concurrent orders passed by a trial court and Allahabad High Court declining to grant him bail as a result of which he had been in jail for 11 months.