India News | SC Seeks Centre, Guj Govt. Reply on Plea for Traditional Burial for Parsi COVID-19 Victims
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Centre and Gujarat government on a plea seeking traditional burial for members of the Parsi community who lost their lives to COVID-19.
New Delhi, Dec 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Centre and Gujarat government on a plea seeking traditional burial for members of the Parsi community who lost their lives to COVID-19.
The appeal filed by the Surat Parsi Panchayat Board has challenged the July 23 order of the Gujarat High Court, which has dismissed the plea of the board.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna was told by senior advocate Fali Nariman, appearing for the board, that the issue was relevant because of a new variant of the Virus.
Nariman said that in Parsis there is a community of corpse bearers and if someone dies the family members don't touch the body and only corpse bearers can do so.
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He said that general guidelines have been issued for cremation and burial of bodies of COVID-19 victims but there is nothing about the Parsi community.
The bench said that this issue requires consideration and highlighted that there is judgement in this regard, which has dealt with obsequies rights which are essentials in some faiths.
The bench said that it will hear the matter on the reopening of the court after winter vacation.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)