The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to consider framing uniform guidelines to ensure unclaimed dead bodies on railway tracks and public places get decently disposed.
The concern of the Court was evoked when it came across an affidavit filed by the Railways, which stated that its responsibility towards unclaimed bodies ended with providing a cloth to wrap the corpse and a maximum expense of Rs 1,000 payable to the Government Railway Police (GRP) for providing shroud to the body. A PIl filed by a social activist Vikas Chandra Guddu Baba had raised the issue of unclaimed dead bodies and the duty of the State towards ensuring these bodies be given a decent burial.
Responding to the petition, Railways informed the court that disposal of unclaimed or unidentified bodies from railway areas was the job of GRP. Its affidavit said the responsibility of Railways ended by informing the GRP. “Being the service provider, Railways bear the expenditure incurred by GRP on covering and removal of dead bodies from railway premises,” it said.
Citing a letter dated March 12, 2013, the affidavit by Railways further informed that “at present Rs 1,000 (or actual expenditure whichever is less) has been fixed as the rate of payment to GRP for providing shroud at the time of removal of any dead body found on railway premises.” Senior advocate SP Singh, who represented Railways told the Bench of Justices BS Chauhan and Sharad Arvind Bobde that the disposal expenditure was borne partly by Centre and partly by States concerned. He further explained that the GRP, acting as an extended arm of Railways, then initiates necessary action for disposal of unidentified bodies after fulfilling requisite legal formalities like panchnama and photographing the body.
The Bench, after hearing the submission was not amused. Involving the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Court gave time till October 21 for seeking instructions on uniform guidelines to be applicable for all authorities in order to ensure unidentified bodies found in public places were given a decent burial.