Point of Law: Involving disposal of dead bodies of Covid-19 victims after giving due consideration to various decisions of Hon-ble Supreme Court as well as other High Courts recognized the fundamental right of any family member to perform funeral rites for a Covid-19 victim

JUDGMENT :-

(Prayer: Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for the issuance of Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, calling for the records connected with the impugned order HDC/C.No.2043/24.4.2020 dated 24.04.2020 issued by the 4th respondent, quash the same and direct the 4th respondent to make necessary arrangements to exhume the body of Dr.Simon Hercules Hercules and bury the same at Kilpauk Cemetry.)

The death of a husband or wife is well recognized as an emotionally devastating event, being ranked on life event scales as the most stressful of all possible losses. The intensity and persistence of the pain associated with this type of bereavement is thought to be due to the emotional valence of marital bonds linking husbands and wives to each other. Spouses are co-managers of home and family, companions, sexual partners and fellow members of larger social units. Although the strength of particular linkages may vary from one marriage to another, all marriages seem to contain each of these linkages to some extent.

2. The death of a spouse ends the relationship but does not sever all relational bonds. The sense of being connected to the lost figure persists, sometimes exacerbating a sense of having been abandoned, sometimes contributing to a sense of continuing in a relationship, although with an absent partner.

3. The case on hand is one such unfortunate event. The petitioner has lost her beloved husband due to Covid-19 infection and he has been buried in an inappropriate place instead of burying in a cemetery by observing the Christian ceremonies, the faith to which the petitioner and her husband belong.

4. The case of the petitioner-s husband, the deceased Dr.Simon Hercules is a shocking one as the incident has given a go-by to all human values. The corpse of Dr.Simon Hercules was shunted from one burial ground to another due to the objections raised by heartless human beings for allowing burial of Dr.Simon Hercules body who was a Covid-19 victim. Ultimately, Dr.Simon Hercules was buried in a place where people belonging to another faith are buried. The petitioner who is the wife of Dr.Simon Hercules and a Christian seeks for exhumation of the body of Dr.Simon Hercules and permit her to bury the body at Kilpauk Cemetery, a Christian Burial Ground. She gave a representation to the respondents for the said purpose which was rejected by the fourth respondent under the impugned order dated 24.04.2020 on the ground that it is not safe to exhume the body and bury the same at a different place. The devastated wife aggrieved by the said order, has preferred this writ petition.

5. Heard Mr.Ravikumar Paul, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner, Mr.V.Shanmuga Sundar, learned Special Government Pleader for the respondents 1 to 3, 5 & 6 and Mr.P.H.Arvindh Pandian, Additional Advocate General assisted by Ms.Karthikaa Ashok, learned Senior Standing Counsel for the respondent 4.

6. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner drew the attention of this Court to the Covid-19 guidelines on Dead body management issued by Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Directorate General of Health Services (EMR Division) dated 15.03.2020 and would submit the following:

(a) The transmission of Covid-19 is only through droplets and infection is not spread from a dead body and

(b) The guidelines makes it clear that the relatives of the victim are allowed to see the dead body and hence, it can be inferred that a dead body will not spread the infection.

7. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner then drew the attention of this Court to the WHO guidelines for Covid-19 infected dead bodies dated 24.03.2020 and would submit that the guidelines makes it clear that there is no evidence of persons having become infected from exposure to the bodies of persons who died from Covid-19. He would also submit that as per the said WHO guidelines, family and friends are allowed to view the body and are also allowed to bury the bod