BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT Reserved on : 15.10.2025 Pronounced on :16.12.2025 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE L.VICTORIA GOWRI Crl.R.C.(MD)No.1181 of 2025 Arul Gerald Prakash ... Petitioner Vs.

1.The State of Tamil Nadu, Rep by the Inspector of Police, Naesomony Nagar Police Station, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District. 2.Michel George Bright

3.Leo Robin

4.Jash Davis

5.Helen Vasantha Davis

6.Stephen ... Respondents Prayer : Criminal Revision Case is filed under Section 438 r/w 442 of BNSS, to set aside the impugned order dated May 19, 2025 passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate - II Court, Nagercoil, in Cr.M.P.No.984 of 2025, in the interest of justice, remand the matter to the learned Judicial Magistrate-II Court, Nagercoil, for fresh consideration after permitting the petitioner to file the requisite affidavit in support of the petition under Section 175(3) of BNSS; or direct the 1^st respondent to register an FIR and conduct a proper investigation into the alleged offences of trespass, destruction of property and desecration of graves under relevant sections of BNS and TNPPDL Act.

For Petitioner : Mr.S.Ananth For R-1 : Mr.M.Sakthi Kumar Government Advocate(Crl.Side)

For R-2 to R-6 : Mr.Xavier Rajini

ORDER

Preface:

This Criminal Revision Case arises out of a dispute touching upon not merely property rights, but the deeply sensitive issue of the dignity of the dead and the sanctity of a Christian cemetery maintained by a parish church for over a century. The narrow legal question before this Court is whether the learned Judicial Magistrate- II, Nagercoil, was justified in dismissing a petition filed under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, merely on the ground that it was not accompanied by a supporting affidavit, without affording an opportunity to cure the defect. The broader backdrop, however, involves allegations of unilateral demolition of graves in a church cemetery and the consequent claim that such an act constitutes a serious violation of constitutional, statutory, canonical and international human rights norms.

Factual Background:

2. The petitioner is a member of Lurthannai Church at Punnai Nagar, Nagercoil. According to him, the Church maintains a separate graveyard exclusively for its members and their families. Christian families, it is stated, do not ordinarily have private family graveyards, instead, members are buried in the common cemetery of the parish church. The cemetery in question is said to be more than 100 years old, where successive generations of the congregation have been buried.

3. It is the petitioner’s case that for each burial, the family of the deceased pays a sum of about Rs.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only) as a fee or hire for the grave space, and that the graveyard has thus been used and maintained as a sacred burial site for generations of the parishioners.

4. The petitioner alleges that on 07.01.2025, between 04.00 p.m. and 08.00 p.m., and again on 08.01.2025, between 09.00 a.m. and 01.00 p.m., respondents 2 to 6, who are office-bearers of the Church (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary and other administrative members), entered the cemetery with the aid of three JCB vehicles and demolished the existing graves and tombs without any permission from or consultation with the families who had buried their relatives in the said cemetery. The complaint is that the grave structures were “scrambled” and “completely demolished” without any consent from the members.

5. Aggrieved by the demolition, the petitioner lodged a complaint before the first respondent police on 09.01.2025, which was assigned CSR No.16 of 2025. As no effective action was taken, he submitted a representation to the Superintendent of Police, Kanyakumari District, on 10.03.2025. According to the petitioner, even thereafter, no FIR was registered and no meaningful investigation was conducted.

6. Meanwhile, it appears that the first respondent police closed the complaint as “acti