Aishwarya Rathore-
The Gujarat High Court dismissed a petition filed by a Parsi Panchayat body seeking permission to conduct the Zoroastrian tradition of performing the funeral rites of community members who died of COVID-19 rather than cremating them.
The plea was dismissed by a division bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Bhargav D Karia, who said it lacked merit and cited the Supreme Court’s recent remarks on the Kanwar Yatra in Uttar Pradesh.
The Surat Parsi Panchayat Board attempted to safeguard the basic right of community members who died of COVID-19 to have their funeral rites performed according to Dokhamanshini tradition, rather than cremation, as directed by authorities in light of the pandemic.
It was stated, In the Dokhamanshini tradition, the body is kept at a height in a structure referred to as a well or tower of silence, to be eaten by vultures, and the remains are left to decompose under the sun.
Justice Trivedi said, “Safety and welfare of the State is the supreme law. In the Kanwar Yatra issue, even the Supreme Court had observed that the health of citizens and their right to life are paramount and all other sentiments are subservient to this fundamental right.”
The bench said, “Considering the prevailing COVID-19 situation, the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare regarding the disposal of dead bodies by cremation or burial are in the larger public interest and cannot be said to be violative of fundamental rights of the Parsis.
The court cited that the petition was devoid of merits and rejected the plea.
