The right to freedom of religion, including performing last rites according to religious beliefs, does not guarantee a community the allotment of a specific plot of land belonging to a local body for a cemetery, the Allahabad high court has ruled while dismissing a Christian body’s plea for a burial ground in Ghaziabad.
The dispute concerned 0.3420 hectare of land in Village Visokhar, Pargana Jalalabad, Tehsil Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad, recorded in government records as barren land (usar). Because the existing cemetery at Begamabad Budana was running short of space, the society contended that Christian residents in the surrounding areas were facing hardship in conducting funerals. A division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by the Christian Community Welfare Society challenging the rejection of its request to convert barren land in Ghaziabad into a Christian cemetery. The society challenged the order, arguing that the denial of suitable land impaired its members’ fundamental right to religious freedom, including performing last rites.
District authorities said the vacant land had never been used as a graveyard, citing residents’ concerns over possible communal tensions and the presence of an existing Christian cemetery nearby.
