Chennai: The Madras High Court has directed the police to dispose of the body of a person as per the ‘unclaimed bodies’ procedure since two wives claimed the body.
Justice P N Prakash said unless the wives reach a settlement, the body, rotting at the mortuary in the government hospital in Chengalpattu for about seven days, should be disposed of as per the procedure followed in cases of unclaimed bodies.
The matter pertains to Dakshinamoorthy, who married Thangammal. Subsequently he married another Christian woman. He died on August 16 while staying at the second wife house in Kosappakkam. Following his death both the wives claimed the body. The first wife approached the court disputing the Will allegedly written by Dakshminmoorrthy, in which the second wife claimed that the body should be buried at her place in Kosapakkamam.
The judge said that the fact remains that the body is now in mortuary. The validity of the Will cannot be decided by this Court in a petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. and it can be decided only in probate proceedings. This Court gave adequate time to both the parties to arrive at an amicable settlement for disposing of the body of Dakshinamoorthy. But, unfortunately, the parties have not been able to arrive at a settlement. If both the parties do not arrive at an amicable settlement, it is always open to the Revenue authorities and the police to dispose of the body in the manner as provided for in the case of disposal of unclaimed bodies. The police need not have to keep the dead body indefinitely in the Ice Box in the mortuary at Government Hospital, Chenglepet, since the mortuary is intended mainly for storing dead bodies before and after post-mortem. The judge said in the result, both these petitions are dismissed with a direction to the police to wait for a reasonable time of two days for the parties to arrive at a compromise. It is made clear that if the parties do not arrive at a compromise, it is open to the police to dispose of the body, as in the manner provided in the case of disposal of unclaimed bodies.
