House passes cemeteries Bill

The new legislation will now be limited to Malankara Church factions

The State Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Kerala Christian Cemeteries (Right to Burial of Corpse) Bill, 2020 that seeks to overcome the impasse over the funeral of the deceased following the tussle between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions of the Malankara Church.

The scope of the legislation will now be limited to the Malankara Church as the Subject Committee had taken into account the concerns raised by the legislators and other Churches over extending the provisions of the law to other denominations, Law Minister A. K. Balan told the House while replying to the Bill as reported by the committee.

The new law seeks to protect the rights of the deceased to be buried in the cemeteries of the parishes they belonged to.

Following the July 3, 2017 Supreme Court verdict that upheld the 1934 constitution of the Malankara Church, many parishes that were in the possession of the Jacobites were handed over to the Orthodox faction and consequently the Jacobites found it difficult to conduct the funeral rites of their deceased in the parishes and cemeteries. The Minister, who moved the Bill in the House for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said the government had tried all means to sort out the issues through talks . "There were recent incidents of undue delay in burial of bodies. Those incidents were a shame on Kerala's culture. It can lead to social and religious conflicts and law and order situations," he said. The Supreme Court and the High Court had observed that the last rites of no devotee should be disrupted in the name of faith. The government stepped in with legislation after the efforts of the Cabinet subcommitte led by the Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan also failed to resolve the dispute, the Minister said.

Title of Bill changed

The Minister said the title of the Bill has been changed to convey the message that it would be applicable only to the Orthodox and Jacobite factions.

Speaker, P. Sreeramakrishnan said the change in the title of the Bill would come into effect only after Governor gives the nod to the Bill passed by the Assembly

Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, and Deputy Leader, M. K. Muneer, who registered dissent in the Subject Committee, told the House that they were agreeing to the spirit of the Bill and supporting it.

“The dissent was for not drafting the Bill properly and for not holding consultations before pilotiing the Bill on such a sensitive issue,” Mr. Chennithala said.