The central legal point established in the judgment is the violation of human rights, specifically the deprivation of livelihood and the lack of equal protection of the laws for poor agriculturists. The judgment also underscores the need for addressing organized crime related to falsifying land records and collusion between land mafias and officials.

( 1 ) SUBMISSION in this matter had closed yesterday with every one present at the bar unanimous on their opinion that in a matter which has now surfaced with such magnitude it would be the fittest step that it be referred to the National Human Rights Commission under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. The Court has accepted the contention made unanimously at the Bar.

( 2 ) THE origin of these proceedings rest on a media report highlighted in the TIME magazine, Asia Edition, 19/07/1999, at page 29. The correspondent, one Michael Fathers along with Menakshi Gangully, apparently made an on the spot enquiry and published an Article entitled "plight of the Living Dead : Indian Farmers declared deceased by unscrupulous relatives must prove they are alive to regain their land. " As the matter is now being sent by the High Court to the National Human Rights Commission, for its convenience the Article as published is being reproduced :"the Eastern Fringes of Indias Uttar Pradesh State are known as the bad lands, a place where hired killers can be bought for as little as $10 and peasant farmers eke out a living on plots as two ingredients - crime and a shortage of agricultural land throw in a large chunk of greed, mix in some family rivalry and you come up with an ingenious scam. Just head for the nearest Land Registry Office, bribe an official, declare the owner dead and transfer the land to your name. "i am here, Iam alive," says Lal Bihari told revenue officials after discovering he was5 listed as deceased in 1976. "that may be so," an unruffled clerk replied "but according to my books youre dead" It took Lal Bihari 18 years to get his life and his land back. During that time, he added the word Mritak, or Dead, to his name and to prove that he was living sought arrest, tried to run for Parliament, kidnapped the son of the uncle who had stolen his property, threatened murder, insulted judges, threw leaflets listing his complaints at legislators in the State assembly and demanded a widows pension for his wife. Each time he was either beaten up by police or rebuked for wasting officials time. Unable to make hedway, Lal Bihari. The Dead, sought the company of other ghosts in Uttar Pradesh and round an entire underworld of the deceased and dispossessed. Last month a dozen of them demonstrated outside the Uttar Pradesh Assembly to publicize their fate, demanding an official investigation into land registry transactions to prevent others from being robbed. Lal Bihari is not sure now many members there are in his Association of Dead People. Hes vague about his Constitution, it has no one of importance is paying any attention-at-least for now. But in his home district of Azamgarh, 220 km. south-east of the state capital Lucknow, Lal Bihari and his association have become a magnet for the dead souls of the region. He receives letters and secret visits from victims or their relatives hoping he can restore their property. "ive heard about you from friends, "wrote a young man late last month. " Exactly the same thing happened to my aunt when her husband died. Can you help?"like other eastern districts in Uttar Pradesh, Azamgarh is overcrowded. Land, the only source of income and status for most residents, is scarce. Holdings are getting smaller, divided and sub-divided as families grow larger. Rich and poor find it difficult to resist stealing land from an absentee uncle, cousin, nephew, widow or any weak and vulnerable relative. The quickest simplest way is to bribe land records officials-it costs between $1 and $50, depending on the size of the plot and the wealth of the farmer-declare a person dead and grab his share of the property. "it is cleaver ploy," says Lal Bihari. "you dont get your hands dirty by committing murder, and yet the person is as good as dead. "kailash, 50, a landless farm-laborer, has moved to Lal Biharis village, Kailashs second cousins have threatened to kill him if he tries again to claim back t