Rajasthan House passes Honour of Dead Body Bill

Parliamentary Affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal said that there has been an increase in cases where the family sits with a dead body and demands compensation. “It is becoming a habit of people to keep a dead body for 7-8 days and demand jobs or money,” he said, adding that during the previous BJP government between 2014 and 2018, there were 82 such cases, where the family sat on a protest with the body and 30 police cases were lodged.

He said that under the current government – between 2019 and 2023 – there have been as many as 306 such cases and 91 police cases have been lodged.

With some MLAs demanding a provision for compensation in cases of anyaypoorn (unjust) deaths, Dhariwal pointed out that it is already covered by existing laws under the Victim Compensation Scheme.

Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore likened the law to Defence of India Act (DIR) and Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the emergency, saying that, “Our culture is such that no person protests with the body of their kin unless there has been absolute injustice or an atrocity. You are playing with emotions. No one is scared due to this law and we are ready to face it.”

Babu Lal, MLA from Jhadol in Udaipur, said that the Bill doesn’t suit the tribal community as they have a tradition of elders resolving issues over such deaths through motanna custom, and demanded that the community be exempted. Amrit Lal Meena, MLA from Salumber in Udaipur, too said that “the Bill is anti-tribal and would lead to more problems.”

As per the Bill, if a family member does not take possession of a dead body, he shall be punished with imprisonment for up to one year or with fine or with both. Protest/remonstration with a dead body or giving consent for the same will invite imprisonment up to two years and fine. And if someone other than a family member uses the dead body for remonstration, they shall be punished with imprisonment between six months to five years, with fine.

A major feature of the Bill is that it gives a dead person “Right to last rites” and has provisions for storage, maintenance of dataset and disposal of unclaimed dead bodies.