Health Ministry guidelines to prevent the further spread of covid would take precedence over the individual interest: Gujarat High Court

Gujarat High Court has dismissed the plea of Parsees to conduct the last rites as per the customary practice also known as Dokhmenashini. The petitioners sought the indulgence of the Court for declaring the impugned Covid-19 Guidelines on Dead Body Management, issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India

As observed in the recent past, Honourable Supreme Court took Suo Moto cognizance in Kanwar yatra in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and upheld that life of citizenry is above any religious belief and making it subservient to fundamental rights.

In the recent case of the Surat Parsi Panchayat v Union of India, the petitioner contended that burial and cremation are two modes that were entirely silent on other modes of funeral and ignoring other religions. Placing reliance on the contention above, the court dismissed the plea and has ordered that the life of citizens cannot be put at risk amid Covid-19 pandemic seeking individual or religious beliefs.

The Court held that the impugned Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare considering the prevailing situation of Covid-19, in the larger public interest for the disposal of dead bodies by cremation or burial, could not be said to be violative of any fundamental rights of the Parsees.

The Court stated that the safety and the welfare of the State is the supreme law as comprehended in the legal maxim – “salus populi suprema lex”. Even the fundamental rights to profess, practice or propagate religion, and the right to manage religious affairs, as enshrined under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India, are subject to public order, morality and health.