The Indian Constitution of India is the Supreme Law of the land. One of the most important parts of the Constitution is Chapter 3: Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Rights guarantee citizens with certain basic rights and protect them from the State’s arbitrary actions. Article 21 is a prominent one, which guarantees the right to life for citizens.
The text of the article is as follows:
“21. Protection of life and personal liberty.—No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
It thus guarantees every citizen the right to live with their liberty in the territory of India. Over the years it has been interpreted to include various prospects of life, such as: right to shelter, right to dignified life, right to work, right to health, right to reputation, right to body autonomy and even right to die. This right to death is also expanded as the right to dignified death. This means that a person, after their death has the right to be treated in a dignified manner; in a sense that their post-death rites such as burial, cremation, prayers etc. are rightfully performed.
In the times of the pandemic, a somber question had arisen concerning the disposal of bodies after death. The country has seen the graves and crematoriums overburdened with the responsibility of helping with the death rituals. For the same, many normal procedures were tweaked in order to cope with the increased demand. Recently, there was also news of ‘floating bodies’ in the Ganga river allegedly being those of Covid-19 patients. Many people, due to safety concerns also do not get to look at their loved ones who passed due to Covid-19. It is in situations like this, that the right to dignified procedure of death is impacted.
The right to die with dignity is an inseparable and an inextricable part of Art.21. The Supreme Court agreed with the right to die with dignity as an integral part of Art.21, in a case where a man in vegetative state chose death. There have been numerous cases in front of the Apex Court that have talked about the right to dignified death and procedure after death. However, this has been more in regard to the topic of Euthanasia. This is where a person intentionally chooses to die as a relief from pain and suffering in a physical nature; i.e. a disease or medical contraventions. A prominent case law is that of Aruna Shanbaug V. Union of India where the court sided with passive euthanasia. However, there is not a significant decision of right to dignified death in the general scenario.
The right to live a dignified life extends up to the point of death including the dignified procedure of death. The ‘dignified procedure of death’, in its interpretation, should extend to dignified disposal of the deceased as well. In the cases where the Apex Court has dealt with the right to die, it has been a solid ground that such right to die without pain and suffering is a part of the Fundamental rights to liberty in body autonomy. Since it falls within this wide interpretation of Art.21, each person is to get a dignified post-death procedure as well (here it extends the interpretation of bodily autonomy to that in after death).
The fundamental rights stem from global human rights. Human Rights do not mention specifically the right to die; rather they press on the right to life. However, after the results of the pandemic, there has been a raising concern internationally in relation to death & post-death rites. The United Nations in 2020 released guidelines for the management of the remains of deceased people due to the pandemic. It is in this document that it is specifically stated that, “Human remains should always be treated with dignity and with respect to privacy….”.
The document was passed in two regards: one with safety concerns and the second with dignified disposal of human remains. The document also signifies the importance of the families of the deceased, in stating that they have the right to receive all information and documents in relation to the deceased.
It also provides guidance for all forces active in the overall response & management of the pandemic. It details general principles and guidelines for handling the remains of infected deceased by professionals and technicians. It also states the special considerations for disposal of remains and handing over necessities to relatives.
Another important guideline passed was by the Red Cross, The general guidance for the management of the Dead which details the Guidelines for management and coordination between different State authorities. This includes identification of departments that are responsible for particular tasks, ensuring that the management’s responsibilities and the procedural aspects to be put in place.Another important aspect is about the recovery and transportation of bodies, handling of bodies, issuance of death certificates, storage and viewing of bodies by families, proper cremation or burial etc.
This is exceptionally important in the Indian scenario. Since the start of Covid-19 deaths in the country, the families of the deceased from covid-19 have not been able to take a look at their loved ones as the bodies have been carried out directly by the hospital. Due to this, many families have not been able to properly perform list rites of such patients. Further, there have also been alleged misconduct on part of covid facilities in the handling of such bodies. The crematoriums have been overburdened and overflowing. It is understood that as a safety concern, some last rites could not be performed by the families and had to be done by the State. These are some of the aspects that come under the ambit of Art.21.
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Although on one hand it is understood that in a state of emergency such as that of the Pandemic, it is difficult to execute each aspect in normalcy; on the other hand lies a tussle between the growing outcries of families. While as a community, there is immense importance given to proper rituals and respect in death, somewhere the breach of international guidelines has its effects on the grassroot level.
Maintaining the dignity of the deceased and having the right of dignified handling post-death is an important issue that will always be addressed; whether or not the pandemic. This is because death is inevitable. There are also numerous times that unnatural death or death in a criminal context changes the normalcy of last rites. It is especially in these situations that the dignified handling of human reminds must strongly be kept in mind.
Article by Sai Kulkarni – Intern
