MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Government to conduct a state-wide survey to check if common, non-discriminatory burial grounds are available across districts, or if separate grounds are maintained for different communities and file a report.
The Court passed the order on a PIL filed by S Chellappa of Keelaariyakulam village in Nanguneri Taluk, Tirunelveli district. The plea stated that villagers find it extremely difficult to bury their dead because the existing burial ground, located close to a water body, remains inundated for nearly six months a year. During the rainy season, villagers struggle to carry the body in a funeral procession, as rainwater stagnates to a depth of two feet over nearly 200 metres near the site, the petition said.
Petitioner’s counsel S Micheal Heldon Kumar told the Court that groundwater immediately fills the burial pit, leaving villagers struggling with removing water. “The interment is done in a water-filled graveyard, which is causing immense mental agony to the family of the deceased and deprives the deceased of a dignified burial,” he contended.
With no public pathway to the burial ground, every funeral procession must pass through private agricultural lands of multiple landowners and during cultivation seasons, standing crops are damaged, leading to repeated objections, disputes and hardship for both villagers and farmers, he noted.
Alleging that despite the villagers approaching the authorities for alternative land for a common public burial ground, none was allocated, the petitioner sought a direction to the authorities to identify government poramboke land or other suitable government land as an alternative.
A Division Bench comprising Justices P Velumurugan and KK Ramakrishnan observed that newspaper and media reports indicate that members of certain communities are being prevented from carrying the bodies of the deceased through certain streets, and from burying or cremating them in common burial grounds.
The Bench directed the State to collect the necessary particulars and file a comprehensive report before the Court. The matter has been posted for hearing on November 17, 2026.
At an earlier hearing, the government advocate informed the Court that two survey numbers measuring 20 cents and 30 cents were identified and asked the Court to select one.
The Court observed that neither would be sufficient for the 130 families in the village and directed the authorities to find an alternative site. The Court issued the present order to assess the existing situation across the State.