V.RATHNA KUMAR Vs. DISTRICT COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the Writ Petition seeking a direction to the respondents to exhume the body of his elder brother, Subramani, from the Corporation Graveyard located at Odapatty, near Othakannu Bridge, Bharathipuram, Dindigul District. The petitioner also seeks a direction to the respondents 7 to 9 to conduct a postmortem with a team of three senior professors from the forensic departments of Madurai and Dindigul Government Medical College Hospital, and to ensure full video coverage of the procedure with the help of a scientific officer, within a time frame.

(2.) The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner, an ex-army man, is a resident of Bangalore. He was born and raised in Dindigul District but moved to Bangalore in August 1999. The petitioner's father, K.Viswambaram, worked as a Sec. Control Officer in the Southern Railway's Madurai Division and passed away while in service on 1/1/1979. The petitioner's elder brother, V.Subramani, was given employment on compassionate grounds. The petitioner has three brothers and two sisters, and his elder brother Subramani passed away on 15/11/2024.

(3.) The learned counsel submits that Subramani, who had retired in January, 2023, was residing in Dindigul at the time of his death. On 15/11/2024, Subramani's wife, Jayarani, called the petitioner's niece, Rekha Senthil Kumar, who lives in Erode, to inform her of Subramani's death. She explained that Subramani had collapsed and died suddenly due to heavy drinking. Rekha then informed the petitioner, who travelled to Dindigul and arrived on 16/11/2024 at 08:00 a.m. The body of the petitioner's brother was kept at the Government Hospital in Dindigul for an autopsy. However, the petitioner was informed by neighbours that the death appeared unnatural.