State government set to make law to ban protests over dead bodies in Haryana

The state government is going to make a law to ban protests over dead bodies in Haryana. Under this law, there will be a ban on protests with dead bodies in public places. For this, the state government is preparing the Haryana Dead Body Respect Bill 2023. In this, there will be a provision of fine along with punishment for protesting with a dead body.

Due to the possibility of protests, the police will have to take further action by taking possession of the dead body. It is being told that Haryana government can present this law in the winter session. There are often reports from different districts of Haryana about road blockades and protests regarding dead bodies. Two days ago, a demonstration was held over the dead body of a Haryana Roadways driver. A few days ago, protests were held in Bhiwani over the dead body of a murder case. Since then the Home Department has started working on this bill.

According to the bill, in case of protests, the family members will have to take possession of the dead body and cremate it on time. If he does not do so and uses the dead body in protest, he will be punished with imprisonment of up to one year and a fine of Rs 50,000. If any organization or people outside the family also protest, then there will be a provision in the bill for action against them also.

If the family does not take the dead body and remains adamant on protesting, then the responsibility of the last rites will be on the administration. If the local SHO feels that the dead body can be used for protest, then he will have to immediately inform his DSP. DSP will inform SDM for further action. SDM and DSP will together contact the family members and request them to perform the last rites. If this is not done then the district administration will have to cremate the dead body within 12 hours.

This law has already been implemented in Rajasthan. Under this law, cases are registered for protesting with dead bodies. There is a provision for punishment up to two years. It has also been provided in this bill that if any leader participates in the protest with the dead body, he can be punished for up to five years. However, when the Rajasthan government brought this law, there was a lot of opposition to it.