Site icon IAS Current Affairs

Rajasthan Honour of Dead Body Bill 2023

Rajasthan Honour of Dead Body Bill 2023
Source : Indian Express

GS II : Governance

Overview

  1. News in Brief
  2. Key Features of Rajasthan Honour of Dead Body Bill 2023
  3. Criticism against the Bill

Why in News ?

The Rajasthan Assembly passed The Rajasthan Honour of Dead Body Bill, 2023, which penalises protests with a dead body.

News in Brief


  • There has been an increase in cases where the family sits with a dead body and demands compensation.
  • It is becoming a habit of people to keep a dead body for 7-8 days and demand jobs or money.
  • Compensation in cases of unjust deaths, already covered by existing laws under the Victim Compensation Scheme.

Key Features of Rajasthan Honour of Dead Body Bill 2023


What is the Bill?

  • The state has made it unlawful to demonstrate while carrying a dead body.

    Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

  • Punishment for protests with a dead body may invite upto 5 years imprisonment.
  • The victim’s relatives must immediately lodge a body claim under the legislation.
  • If family objects bill gives the district administration the authority to confiscate the body and administer the last rites.

What will be the Punishment and Penalty?

  • If the victim’s family does not come forward to claim the corpse, they might be punished with up to a year in jail and a fine.
  • They risk receiving a fine and up to two years in prison if they decide to protest carrying a dead corpse or allowing someone else to do so.
  • Thirdparty face more severe penalties.
  • Any politician who decided to demonstrate beside the body in order to demand an inquiry or reparations might face up to five years in prison.
  • If a non-family member objects to the body, they might get a fine in addition to a sentence of six months to five years in prison.

What is Victim Compensation Scheme?

  • Compensation is provided in instances of wrongful death under the current Victim Compensation Scheme.
  • The measure particularly addresses protests involving dead corpses and sets a different system for dealing with such circumstances.

Other Provision

  • The bill included rules for information confidentiality, digitization, and protection of genetic data information through DNA profiling.

Criticism against the Bill


  • The legislation was compared to the infamous Defence of India Act (DIR) and Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) put into place during the emergency.
  • The parallel has sparked worries about possible power abuse and violations of personal freedom.
  • Tribal community, they have a tradition of elders resolving issues over such deaths through motanna custom.

Rise cases of Protest with Dead bodies


  • During the previous government between 2014 and 2018, there were 82 such cases, where the family sat on a protest with the body and 30 police cases were lodged.
  • Under the current government between 2019 and 2023 there have been as many as 306 such cases and 91 police cases have been lodged.

Daily Current Affairs : Click Here

Leave a Feedback
Exit mobile version