Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court has directed the state government to take immediate steps toward acquiring land for setting up common burial grounds for all faiths.
The HC issued directions on Monday while hearing a PIL regarding the shortage of burial spaces for various communities, including the Khasis and Jaintias.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice IP Mukerji and Justice W Diengdoh, acknowledged the acute shortage of public burial spaces and noted the reluctance among certain denominations to share private cemeteries with others.
The bench directed the formation of a committee to be headed by the Chief Secretary. The committee will facilitate meetings between stakeholders, including district councils, churches, administrative officers, and state legal counsel.
The committee will deliberate on acquiring land for common burial grounds and work toward resolving disputes over the sharing of cremation facilities.
The bench observed that there are very few common burial grounds compared to the number of deaths and the increasing demand for burial space.
“Villages, or at least a significant number of them, have community land belonging to the people in common. A part of it may be gifted for the purpose of a common burial ground. However, substantial land is required across districts if progress is to be made in solving this problem. These lands need to be acquired by the government either through the land acquisition machinery or by private sale or treaty. We direct that immediate steps be taken by the state government to acquire the required area of land for this purpose,” the court stated.
“We direct the Amicus Curiae to move the Chief Secretary of the State so that a Committee comprising of a selection of the undermentioned stakeholders in which the Chief Secretary shall be the Chairperson is constituted by him and meeting/meetings be arranged
between all stakeholders, including representatives of the District Councils, representatives of churches/religious orders, administrative officers, state legal counsel, local functionaries etc. for the purpose of acquisition of land for common burial and for implementation of our orders,” the bench added.
The order was issued after considering recent meetings held between the Amicus Curiae and public authorities.
“The result of these meetings appears to be that some Christian denominations, through churches and other religious orders, own private cemeteries. Those denominations having private cemeteries are reluctant to share their cemeteries with other denominations. They have no objection to sharing cemeteries which are acquired by the government or public authority and designated for common burial for all communities irrespective of faith,” the bench stated.
The PIL was initially filed to address the shortage of crematoria and the reluctance of Khasi-Jaintia and Hindu communities to share cremation facilities.
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After partial resolution of those issues, the court learned of similar disputes among Christian denominations, prompting it to broaden the PIL’s scope.
The Amicus Curiae has been directed to file a report containing minutes of the meeting before the returnable date of July 30, 2025.
