Pained to see son unable to bury father in village move apex court: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday said it was pained to see a man move the top court to bury his father as per Christian rites in a Chhattisgarh village after the authorities failed to resolve the issue.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma was hearing a plea filed by one Ramesh Baghel, challenging an order of the Chhattisgarh High Court which disposed of his plea seeking burial of his father, a pastor, in the area specified for the burial of Christians in the village graveyard.
"Why should a person who has lived in a particular village be not buried in that village? The body is lying in the morgue since January 7. Sorry to say that a man has to come to the Supreme Court for burial of his father. We are sorry to say that neither the Panchayat, nor the state government or the high court was able to resolve this problem. We are surprised by the high court's remark that there will be law and order problem. We are pained to see that a person is unable to bury his father and has to come to the Supreme Court," said the bench.
Baghel said while villagers had "aggressively objected" to the burial, police threatened him with legal action.
At the outset, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, informed the court that there was no burial ground for Christians and the man could be buried in a place 20 kilometer away from the village.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Baghel, said the affidavit submitted by the state showed his family members were also buried in the village.
Referring to the affidavit, Gonsalves said the deceased was not being allowed the burial as he was Christian.
Mehta said the son was adamant to bury his father in the burial ground of his family's native village to create unrest between tribal Hindus and tribal Christians.
Opposing the submission, Gonsalves said this was the "beginning of movement to kick Christians out".
Mehta said the issue should not be decided on emotions and was ready to argue the matter in detail.
The top court posted the hearing on January 22 after the Mehta sought time.
Relying on a certificate issued by the gram panchayat's sarpanch that there were no separate burial grounds for Christians, the high court denied the permission for burial to the son underlining it could cause unrest and disharmony in the public at large.
The pastor died due to old age.
According to Baghel, Chhindawada village had a graveyard which was verbally allotted by the gram panchayat for burial and cremation of bodies.
In the graveyard, separate areas were demarcated for burial of tribals; burial or cremation of people belonging to Hindu religion and for persons belonging to the Christian community.
In the area specified for Christians, the petitioner's aunt and grandfather were buried in this village graveyard.
The plea said the petitioner and his family members wanted to hold the man's last rites and bury his mortal remains in the area specified for Christian persons in the graveyard.
"Hearing of this some villagers aggressively objected to it and threatened of dire consequences if the petitioner and his family buried the petitioner's father in this land. They are also not allowing the petitioner's family to bury the mortal remains in the petitioner's family privately-owned land," it said.
According to Baghel, the villagers said a Christian couldn't be buried in their village be it the village graveyard or even a privately-owned land.
"When the villagers turned violent, the petitioner's family made a report to police following which 30-35 police personnel reached the village. The police also exerted pressure on the family to take the body out of the village," he said.
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Rs 30,000 cr loss a month: Oil companies bleed as fuel prices on hold amid global energy spike
New Delhi (PTI): About Rs 700-1,000 crore loss per day. Rs 30,000 crore every month. India's state oil companies are quietly absorbing a massive financial hit to keep petrol, diesel and LPG prices unchanged even as global energy markets face a turmoil that is bigger than all previous crises combined.
While countries from Japan to United Kingdom have raised petrol and diesel prices by up to 30 per cent since the start of the West Asia conflict, fuel prices in India continue at two-year-old levels.
The war disrupted India's import of 40 per cent of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel), 90 per cent cooking gas LPG and 65 per cent natural gas (used to generate electricity, make fertilizer, turned into CNG and piped to household kitchens for cooking), but state-owned oil companies have maintained uninterrupted fuel supplies with no rationing or shortage at any point in the last 10 weeks.
But this has come at a cost - Rs 30,000 crore under-recovery or loss every month for the three oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The under-recoveries - the gap between input costs and realised retail prices - rose sharply in March/April before tapering a bit. Daily under-recoveries during April were estimated at about Rs 18 per litre on petrol and Rs 25 per litre on diesel, translating into average losses of Rs 700-1,000 crore a day for OMCs, they said.
At a news briefing on developments in West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said prices in the international markets, on which India relies to meet 88 per cent of its oil needs, have been volatile and supplies impacted.
Crude oil prices which were around USD 70 per barrel two months ago, are now at USD 120, she said. "It has been government's endeavour to keep prices stable so far and that there is no price increase for consumers," she said. "This has hit finances of OMCs... monthly under-recoveries are of the order of Rs 30,000 crore."
She, however, refused to say if retail petrol and diesel prices will continue to hold.
"As I said, the endeavour so far has been to see that there is no price increase," she said.
The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) have worked overtime to keep the supply lines running even when demand spiked due to panic buying.
The government intervention included excise duty reductions and absorption of part of the fuel cost burden. The special additional excise duty on petrol was cut to Rs 3 per litre from Rs 13, while excise duty on diesel was reduced to zero from Rs 10 per litre.
The under-recoveries would have swelled to nearly Rs 62,500 crore had the government not cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each.
The government, Sharma said, has taken a hit of Rs 14,000 crore a month in cutting the excise duty.
The Centre's effective absorption at peak crude prices was estimated at around Rs 24 per litre for petrol and Rs 30 per litre for diesel.
The February 28 strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran triggered a sharp escalation in West Asia tensions. Energy prices surged as the conflict widened and shipping risks intensified in the Strait of Hormuz - the shipping lane through which India and other countries imported crude oil, LPG and natural gas from Gulf countries. Tanker movement was disrupted.
The companies also faced additional costs from emergency crude sourcing, higher freight charges due to vessel diversions, elevated marine insurance premiums and refinery optimisation expenses. Despite these pressures, fuel and LPG supplies remained uninterrupted across the country.
The surge in crude prices and the decision to shield consumers from higher retail prices placed significant strain on OMC balance sheets and refining margins, sources said.
They added that the measures reflected a policy decision to prioritise consumer stability and economic continuity during a global energy shock.
Sources warned that a prolonged period of elevated crude prices could lead to higher working capital borrowings and force some recalibration of capital expenditure plans. However, investments linked to refining expansion, energy security infrastructure, ethanol blending, biofuels and transition fuels would continue with government backing, they said.
India's approach contrasted with measures adopted by several other economies, where fuel prices rose sharply after the conflict-driven energy shock.
Petrol prices increased by about 34 per cent in Spain, 30 per cent in Japan, Italy and Israel, 27 per cent in Germany and 22 per cent in the United Kingdom, according to estimates. Several countries also introduced rationing, conservation advisories, emergency relief packages or fuel caps.
In India, petrol prices remained Rs 94.77 per litre and diesel at Rs 87.67, with no rationing, mobility restrictions or supply disruptions, they added.
Sharma said the revenues that OMCs earn are used to buy crude oil, build infrastructure to process it into fuel and create channels that will take the fuel to consumers.
Their capex spending is all dependent on the revenues they earn, she added.
