Ranchi: The practice of staging demonstrations with bodies of deceased employees before public sector undertakings, demanding compensation and other benefits, has been grossly deprecated by the Jharkhand high court.
In a judgment passed by Justice Deepak Roshan on December 3, the high court observed that such incidents is a rising trend in the country. "This court takes judicial notice of the fact that such incidents are also repeatedly happening in Jharkhand," the judge mentioned in his order.
The court was hearing a writ petition filed in 2023 by Maithon Power Limited, which has its power station at Maithon in Dhanbad. The power company sought an order from the high court to protect it from continuous hindrances in running its plant, especially under the circumstances when an employee dies during the period of employment.
A natural death of an employee on August 29, 2023, led to protests in front of the main gate, causing the company to suffer huge losses as raw material could not be brought inside the premises. The situation became volatile, leading to a disruption of law and order.
Such action causes massive restriction upon the people working in the plant, including the movement of raw materials, and essential activity pertaining to the generation of electricity comes to a complete standstill during such protests, the petitioner company pleaded before the court.
The high court, while disposing of the petition on December 3, observed that the right to live with dignity also includes the right to be treated with dignity upon death. "Human dignity, with which a living human being is expected to be treated, should also be extended to a person who is dead, and the right to accord decent burial or cremation to the body should be treated as part of the right to such dignity," the court held.