No one has the right to indiscriminately use any open land, especially that belonging to the government, as a burial ground, the Delhi High Court has held. The ruling by a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar came on a PIL challenging a sub-divisional magistrate's order questioning use of a government land in Uttam Nagar in west Delhi as a burial ground. The magistrate had issued notice to an Uttam Nagar-based NGO asking it how it came to be in possession of the government land and how it was using it as a burial ground. The court noted that the petitioner NGO, Kabristan Intzamia Association, had started using the government land on the basis of a statement made by an MLA and "no legal right is either pointed out or made out with respect to the subject land". It held that the sub-divisional magistrate, Dwarka, passed the August 1, 2017 order, which was under challenge, after considering all the matters and there was "no illegality" in the decision. The bench also said that all the parties have to abide by the magistrate's decision and directed the local authorities to take strict action for violation of the order. "No person has any right to use any open land, especially government land, indiscriminately as a burial ground," the court said and dismissed the NGO's plea.
