HC ‘shocked’ over corpses piling up in city morgues

: Shocked over corpses piling up in the city’s mortuaries and the fact that Investigating Officers (IO) were paying for cremations for decades now, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday told the police and others concerned to do something about it.

“What is this nonsense? Why don’t you [the police] do something about it? It is shocking that the IO has to pay for it [the cremation],” said a Bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Jayant Nath.

“Decades-old” practice

The Bench expressed concern over the “decades-old” practice, after it was told that IOs have to pay from their pocket to cremate unclaimed bodies.

The Bench said in absence of any legislation, once all stakeholders come up with proposals, the court will step in and issue directions to streamline the process of disposal of bodies in mortuaries.

The court also said the problem was due to the lack of a proper system. It added that since the Centre had decided not to proceed with a separate Coroners Act, it will issue directions till a legislation comes into place.

The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it after a murder accused died in custody and one of his eyes was found missing while the body was kept in the mortuary.

Amicus Curiae Saqib and Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra told the court that the worst off among the morgues inspected by them was the one at Subzi Mandi, which had over 85 bodies against its capacity for 65. Some bodies were stacked on top of the others.

They said that 95 per cent of the bodies were lying there for over 72 hours, the stipulated time limit under a Delhi Police standing order for disposal of unclaimed or unidentified bodies.

“Corruption”

When the Delhi Police counsel Avi Singh said overcrowding at Subzi Mandi morgue was due to the nearby electric crematorium not working, the court shot back: “Apart from corruption, what works?”