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Observing that Amir Magrey, who was killed by security forces in the Hyderpora
encounter in Jammu and Kashmir was given a decent burial by the State authorities,
including performance of last rites in accordance with religious beliefs, the Supreme
Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by his father Mohammed Latif Magrey
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala however directed the State to
comply with the High Court direction to pay Rs 5 lakhs compensation to the family and
also to allow them to have prayers at the grave site where the body of Magrey was buried
by the officials.
"After a body has been buried, it is considered to be under the custody of law. The
interment is under the law of court. Once buried a body should not be distrubed. A court
will not order disinterment of body unless it is shown that disinterment is in the interest
of justice", Justice JB Pardiwala read out the operative part of the judgment.
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The bench noted that the State has filed an affidavit stating that the body was buried
after performing the last rites, including the washing of the body and its shrouding as per
the religious practice. There was nothing to show that deceased was not given a decent
burial.
"We as a court of law respect the emotions and sentiments of the appellant as the father,
however, the court of law should not decide the rights of prties considering the
sentiments, but in accordance with law", the bench stated it the judgment.
The bench termed the judgment of the High Court as just and equitalbe and dismissed
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala had reserved judgment on
August 29 on the petition filed by Mohammed Latif Magrey seeking the body of his son
Amir Magrey, who was killed in Hyderpora Encounter in Srinagar in November 2021. The
petitioner disputes that his son was a terrorist and maintains that he was an innocent
The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court had allowed the family to perform the
religious rites at the place where Amir Magrey was buried by the J&K police but
refused to hand over the body to the family. The High Court also directed the J&K
The father approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict to the
extent it refused to hand over the body. Opposing the plea, Advocate Ardhendumauli
"As far as the State is concerned, he was a terrorist. It is not in dispute that there are
certain other such people who have been buried and they are purposely not buried in
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their own places for the reason that it takes into account the glorification...young minds
are swayed..the terrorists sneak in and they say very good things and the younger
minds are drawn into terrorism. That is the reason why State consciously do not bury
them in the same town or in the same village".
"Your lordships have seen, what had happened few years back, when a terrorist died and
the body was given back",Prasad said apparently referring to the funeral of terrorist
Burhan Wani in 2016. He further submitted that Hyderpora encounter took place in
November 2021 and the body would be in a decomposed state after 8 months.
Senior Advocate Anand Grover, appearing for the petitioner in the matter, underscored
that performing last rites on the body of the deceased would not cause any security
concerns. He stated that as a religious person, he had a "sacred right" to perform the last
rites of his son. While highlighting the plea of the deceased person's father, Sr. Adv.
Grover stated–
"My son is gone. I am also ready to show you that my son is not a terrorist. But I will not
get into that because I only want to get the last rites performed. Unfortunately, once you
are labelled a terrorist, your family is also targeted. My most basic and sacred thing to
perform (last rites) is taken awake from me...It's a wound which cannot be healed...At
Grover made extensive reference to the Islamic religious texts to inform the bench about
funeral rites. The corpse needs to be shrouded and the family should have an opportunity
to look at the face for the last time. The prayers have to be recited in the presence of the
family.
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"These religious rites cannot be usurped by the state. Sentiments of religious people
must be respected", Grover submitted asking what will be the prejudice to the State if the
The counsel of the J&K administration stated that as far as performing the last rites were
concerned, as evidenced by the documents given to the High Court, "there was no quarrel
that the last rites were performed". He stated that rituals as per Islamic religious
practices were performed and the court was satisfied to that effect. He further submitted
that allowing the prayer will open the floodgates of similar other litigations.
"But there are large many numbers of such terrorists being encountered. If this is
allowed, then High Court will be filled with similar prayers seeking to perform last rites
ceremony...We all saw what happened when the body was given a few years back...We
are ready and agreeable as the first prayer by the division bench."
To this, Sr. Adv. Grover, stated that any person, even if such a person was an enemy, had
a right to be buried and the same was a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21 of
After hearing the matter, the bench reserved judgment in the case.
In the last hearing on the matter, the Supreme Court had requested the High Court of
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to decide the plea within one week. Accordingly, the
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court directedthe UT administration to allow the
family of Amir Magrey to perform Fatiha Khawani (religious rituals/prayers after burial) at
his grave. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Javed
Iqbal Wani also upheld the the single bench direction to the extent of paying a
compensation of Rs.5.00 Lakhs to the family. The High Court had noted that Amir's
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24/09/2022, 14:34 BREAKING| Hyderpora Encounter - 'Decent Burial Given, Last Rites Performed By State' : Supreme Court Dismisses Father's Pl…
family sought permission to see his face by opening his grave. However, it had refused to
pass any order on this aspect, stating that Amir's father had given up the prayer for
exhumation of his son's body for performance of last rituals and in any case, the dead
CASE TITLE: MOHAMMAD LATIEF MAGREY v. THE UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND
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R.k. Dubey
5 Lakhs compensation for a terrorist ?
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