Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has held that the right to freedom of religion, including the right to perform last rites in accordance with religious beliefs, does not entitle a community to claim a specific plot of govt land for establishing a cemetery.A division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla made the observation while dismissing a writ petition filed by the Christian Community Welfare Society, which had challenged the rejection of its request to convert a piece of barren land in Ghaziabad into a Christian cemetery.The court in its judgment dated Oct 12 held that the conversion of a gram sabha land into public utility land for use as a graveyard is an executive decision.“There is no right inhering in anyone, in the sense of it being justiciable, to seek conversion of a particular non-public utility land into a public utility land,” the court added.It further said it would be another thing if indeed there is a shortage of space and such a request can be considered by the authorities bearing in mind public interest.The petitioner society approached the high court through its president, Vinay Kumar Paul. One of its objectives is to extend assistance in the performance of last rites of Christians.The dispute concerned 0.3420 hectare of land situated in Visokhar village, Pargana Jalalabad, Tehsil Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad. The land was recorded in govt records as barren land. The society contended that Christian residents in the area were facing hardship in performing funerals because the existing cemetery at Begamabad Budana was running short of space.It submitted that the board of the Nagar Palika Parishad, Modi Nagar, had passed a resolution on Jan 22, 2018, proposing that the land be allotted for a Christian cemetery. The resolution was forwarded to the district authorities, but the land was not converted or reserved for the purpose. It had earlier also approached the high court through a PIL seeking directions to permit the Christian community to use the land as a graveyard.Following directions by the HC in those proceedings, the additional district magistrate (administration), Ghaziabad, rejected the request in Jan this year under section 77(2) of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006.This rejection order was challenged by the society contending that the non-allotment of suitable land impaired its members’ fundamental right to freedom of religion, of which the performance of last rites forms a part.The district authorities claimed that the land was recorded as barren and was lying vacant and the same was not traditionally used by any community as a graveyard. A report of the sub-divisional magistrate referred to applications from other locals and communities expressing apprehension that allotting the land to the Christian community could give rise to communal differences in the future. It was also pointed out that a Christian cemetery was already situated nearby and was in use.
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