MP High Court quashes rights panel order, says keeping body at home not illegal

Source:-indianexpress.com

A report published by a Hindi daily on February 14 claimed that two guards on duty at ADG Rajendra Mishra’s home in Bhopal had fallen sick due to the foul smell from the “body” of the officer’s father Kulamani Mishra.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed a state human rights commission order directing police to enter the home of a senior police officer to ascertain if his father was alive. The court held that “India is a liberal democracy where a man is permitted to act in any manner he pleases, where such act is not prohibited under the law, irrespective of the fact that his act might be seen as galling by the majority.”

Advertising

A report published by a Hindi daily on February 14 claimed that two guards on duty at ADG Rajendra Mishra’s home in Bhopal had fallen sick due to the foul smell from the “body” of the officer’s father Kulamani Mishra. It claimed that a private hospital issued a death certificate after the octogenarian died on January 14, a day after receiving treatment for respiratory distress.

Citing this article, the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) sought the DGP’s report asking to ascertain if the death was natural, whether the body had been cremated, and if scientific measures had been adopted to preserve the body and to stop the foul smell.

ADG Mishra did not allow the police to enter his home and his mother Shashimani moved the High Court against the order, arguing that her rights to life, dignity and freedom were being violated. The family maintained that the 84-year-old was alive and was being treated by an ayurveda practitioner.