IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.1248 of 2010 Smt.Manju Mehta w/o Birendra Kumar Mehta, r/o Madhubani Town, Mohalla –Stadium Road, Jai Mata Di Bhawan, P.S. Madhubani, District – Madhubani …. Petitioner Versus 1. The State Of Bihar 2. The District Magistrate, Madhubani 3. The District Development Commissioner, Madhubani 4. The Executive Engineer, Public Health Engineering Department, Madhubani …. Respondents ----------- For the petitioner; Mr. Prabhas Ranjan, Advocate For the respondents: Mr. S.A. Alam, SC IV Mr. T.Ahmad, AC to SC IV --- 2 25/1/2010 The singular grievance of the petitioner, a resident of Ward No.20 of Madhubani town, district – Madhubani, is that cremation used to take place in Jiwachh Ghat which was 3 Kilometers away from the local habitat but recently a decision has been taken to shift it to Ward no.20 which is densely populated. In essentiality, it is the assertion that if cremation takes place in the ward it will pollute the air and also corrode the hygiene of the local residents. Having heard Mr. Prabhas Ranjan, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. S.A. Alam, learned counsel for the State, it is directed that the District Magistrate-cum-Collector, Madhubani shall enquire into 2 the same keeping in view that health of the citizens is of paramount consideration being a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution and no authority should abandon the said concept to show it the backdoor. There can be no dispute over the fact that a cremation ground unless scientifically constructed in a different manner, cannot be allowed to be operative in densely populated area. The Collector shall be well advised and guided in this regard and take a proper decision within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. Let a free copy of the order be supplied to Mr. Alam, learned counsel for the State to do the needful. Neyaz/ (Dipak Misra, CJ.) (Mihir Kumar Jha, J.)