Supreme Court approves protocol for disposal of bodies of Parsi Covid victims

New Delhi, February 5

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The Supreme Court has approved a protocol detailing standard operating procedure (SOP) for disposal of bodies of Parsi Covid-19 victims — which has been a bone of contention between the government and the community.

A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud on Friday put its seal of stamp on an agreement reached between the Centre and Surat Parsi Panchayat Board — representing the Parsi community — that a metallic net will be installed in “Tower of Silence” to avoid any contact of birds and animals so as to check the spread of Covid.

“Since the principal mode of disposal at the Tower of Silence is through strong and powerful rays of the Sun, and hence to deal with the problem of birds of prey, the petitioner undertakes to instal as soon as possible, a metallic bird net over Dokhma-No 3, which is exclusively reserved for the dead Parsi Covid-19 victims; this will eliminate contact with birds and animals and will avoid any intrusion by vultures. Hence, there will be no exposure of the body to birds, etc. once the metallic net gets installed over Dokhma-No 3,” the SOP stated. On January 17, the Bench had asked the Centre to consider tweaking the protocols for the burial of bodies of Covid victims in a way that essential tenets of the Zoroastrian belief were taken care of. — TNS

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