The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 22) has expressed dissatisfaction with a Chhattisgarh government’s affidavit, which failed to provide crucial details about the designated graveyard for Christians in the state and termed it as “very vague”. The apex court bench emphasised the need for a designated graveyard for Christians while hearing a matter concerning a dispute over the burial of a Christian man in the state, The Hindu reported.
The case revolves around the burial of a senior citizen, Subhas Baghel, a pastor who passed away on January 7. His family wants to bury him in their native village of Chhindawada, where their ancestors have been laid to rest for generations.
However, the Chhattisgarh government claims that the graveyard in question is designated for Scheduled Tribe Hindus, and allowing a Christian burial could lead to tensions.
Further, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Chhattisgarh, stated that there is graveyard reserved solely for Christians from four nearby villages in Baster district. He further assured that the state is willing to erect a signboard to clearly indicate this designation.
The Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma, stressed that burials must be held in areas designated for each faith, and the body must be buried in a graveyard exclusively for Christians.
“If there is a designated area, you can bury him there… This should be an exclusive Christian graveyard where they will not be disturbed. That is what we want,” Justice Nagarathna was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
The bench has reserved its verdict and directed the state government to file a fresh affidavit with essential details about the designated graveyard like “the extent of the graveyard, its location and whether it was used, as claimed by authorities, by Christians across four neighbouring villages in Baster district,” the report added.
Notably, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the family of Baghel, underlined that this was the first time that the state mentioned had “mentioned such a graveyard”.
“They have not produced anything on record about such a graveyard… This is hostile, patent discrimination to the dead with a future signal to the living… Every tribal convert to Christianity will now be told to bury in this designated graveyard… Denial of burial is an atrocity,” Gonsalves was quoted as saying by The Hindu.