New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (January 27) delivered a split verdict on the petition of a Christian man who had sought permission to bury the body of his father, a pastor, either in the burial ground of their native village Chindwara in Chhattisgarh or in their private land.

The bench refrained from referring the dispute to a larger bench on account of the body lying in the mortuary since January 7 and chose to pass a consensual direction that the burial be held at the designated place for Christians at Karkapal village that is around 20-25 kilometres away from the petitioner’s native place, reported LiveLaw.

While Justice BV Nagarathna allowed the appellant to bury his father in his private property, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said that the burial could be held only at the area designated for Christians, which is at the Karkapal village.

"There is no consensus between the members of the bench regarding the resting place of the appellant's father. We do not wish to refer the matter to a third judge bench having regard to the fact that the appellant's father's body is in the mortuary for the last three weeks. Bearing in mind the fact that the deceased has been kept in the mortuary for the last three weeks, and in order to accord to a dignified and expeditious burial of the deceased, we agree to issue the following directions in the exercise of powers under Article 142,” said the bench in its final order.

The Supreme Court had said on January 20 said that it is pained to see that a man from Chhattisgarh had to come to the Supreme Court with a plea to bury his father, who was a Christian pastor, in the Chindwara village graveyard as the state and the high court couldn’t resolve the issue.

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