Last week, the Calcutta High Court ruled that bodies of Covid-19 patients shall be handed over to relatives of the deceased for completion of last rites following safety precautions.

The petitioner, Vineet Ruia, had told the court that bodies of Covid-19 patients were being “disposed of by the administration unceremoniously and in an undignified manner without showing even a resemblance of respect to the mortal remains of the dead person”.

Families were not being allowed to perform last rites or see the bodies to pay their last respects, the petitioner had said.

After hearing the plea, Chief Justice TB Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee laid down nine Guidelines for the government to follow. These are:

  • When post mortem of the dead body is not required, the dead body shall be handed over to the immediate next of kin of the deceased i.e. the parents/surviving spouse/children, after completion of hospital formalities.

  • The body should be secured in a body bag, the face end of which should be preferably transparent and the exterior of which will be appropriately sanitized/decontaminated so as to eliminate/minimize the risk to the people transporting the dead body.

  • The people handling the dead body shall take standard precautions, e.g., surgical mask, gloves, etc. If available and possible, PPE should be used.

  • The vehicle carrying the dead body to the crematorium/burial ground will be suitably decontaminated

  • The staff of the crematorium/burial ground should be sensitized that the bodies of COVID-19 victims does not pose additional risk. They will practice standard precautions.

  • The face end of the body bag may be unzipped by the staff at the crematorium/burial ground to allow the relatives to see the body for one last time. At this time, religious rituals, such as reading from religious scripts, sprinkling holy water, offering grains and such other last rites that do not require touching of the body, should be allowed.

  • After the cremation/burial, the family members and the staff of the crematorium/burial ground should appropriately sanitize themselves.

  • As a social distancing measures should be followed. Large gatherings at the crematorium/burial ground should be avoided.

  • The persons handling the dead body shall go directly from the hospitals to the crematorium/burial ground, as the case may be, and not to anywhere else including the home of the deceased where he/she last resided.

  • In case the body of a COVID-19 infected deceased is unclaimed, the same shall be cremated/buried as the case may be with due dignity, at State expense.

“At that time, religious rituals, such as reading from religious scripts, sprinkling holy water, offering grains and such other last rites that do not require touching of the body should be allowed,” the judges said.

Agreeing with the petitioner's submissions, the High Court added,

"The right to dignity and fair treatment under Article 21 of the Constitution is not only available to a living person but also to his mortal remains after his demise. Disposal of a human body, whether or not the person dies of Covid-19, whether by cremation or burial, should be done with due respect and solemnness."

The Bench further remarked:

"We also agree that the near and dear ones of a deceased person who had contracted Covid-19 should have an opportunity to have a final look at the human remains of the person and to pay their last respect and homage to the departed soul."

Since the bodies are being handled by state government personnel following guidelines issued by the Union health ministry on March 15 and a notification by the state government on June 6, the court heard both the Centre and the state before passing the order on Wednesday.

There have been nine hearings since June 5. The Centre was represented by three lawyers while the West Bengal government was represented by advocate general Kishore Dutta and three lawyers.

The petitioner had also said that the state government was not properly recording deaths and was not announcing the names of deceased patients. The court observed that it was satisfied with the measures taken by the state.

The judgement has been delivered by a Bench comprising of Hon’ble The Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Hon’ble Justice Arijit Banerjee 16-09-2020.

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