Gujarat HC Rejects Petition Challenging Body Exhumation Over Graveyard Dispute

The Gujarat High Court has dismissed a petition seeking to restrain local authorities from exhuming a body buried on disputed land near a Hindu crematorium in Rupavati village of Bhavnagar district.

The petitioner had challenged a show-cause notice issued by the sarpanch of Rupavati Gram Panchayat, which questioned the burial and warned that the body would be exhumed and reburied at the designated community graveyard after following due religious procedures if no satisfactory explanation was provided.

Petitioner claims land was once designated as graveyard

The petitioner argued before the court that the 27-guntha plot had originally been earmarked as a Muslim graveyard by the erstwhile Baroda State, although the land was subsequently omitted from revenue records.

It was further contended that the village’s designated Muslim burial ground had run out of space, making the burial at the disputed site necessary.

State cites similar incident in 2022

Opposing the plea, the state government submitted that a similar dispute had arisen in 2022, when another body buried at the same location by the petitioner’s family was exhumed and shifted under the directions of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.

The state also relied on a joint inspection report prepared by revenue and panchayat authorities, which found that the village’s notified Muslim graveyard covers around 700 square metres, is fenced and still has nearly half of its area available for burials.

High Court declines relief

Taking note of the inspection report, the court observed that an adequate burial ground already exists in the village and is not fully occupied.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel agreed to voluntarily exhume and relocate the body to the designated community graveyard within 10 days, following the prescribed religious rites.

The Gujarat High Court subsequently declined to grant relief and disposed of the petition.