Delhi HC: No one can use government land as burial ground

The Delhi High Court in a recent ruling held that no one has the right to indiscriminately use any open land, especially that belonging to the government, as a burial ground.

The judgement was passed by a bench of Justices comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar on a PIL that challenged a sub-divisional magistrate's order questioning the use of a government land in Uttam Nagar in West Delhi as a burial ground.

Background

The sub-divisional magistrate, Dwarka, had issued a notice to an Uttam Nagar-based NGO- Kabristan Intzamia Association, questioning it on how it came to possess the government land and how it was using it as a burial ground.

Key Highlights of the Ruling

• The court noted that the petitioner NGO had started using the government land on the basis of a statement made by an MLA and "no legal right is either pointed out or made out with respect to the subject land".

• It held that the sub-divisional magistrate passed the 1 August 2017 order after considering all the matters and there was no illegality in the decision.

• The bench also said that all the parties have to abide by the magistrate's decision and directed the local authorities to take strict action for violation of the order.

• The court, while dismissing the NGO’s plea, stated that no person has any right to use any open land, especially government land, indiscriminately as a burial ground.

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