HC dismisses review plea of daughters of M.M. Lawrence

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has dismissed a review petition filed by daughters of Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M.M. Lawrence seeking a review of an earlier verdict that had dismissed their plea against handing over their father’s body to the Government Medical College Hospital, Ernakulam.

His daughters, Asha Lawrence and Sujatha Boban, had in March filed the review petition, citing retrieval of a video that showed their father expressing his wish to be buried in a church. They submitted that both the High Court and the Supreme Court had dismissed their pleas to hand the body over to them for proper burial, on the ground they could not produce any evidence to show that their father wanted his body to be buried as per the Christian rites. The siblings said that later on they retrieved the video which proved their claim and that they should be allowed to bury his body as per the Christian rites.

The Division Bench held that a review cannot be filed for a rehearing and fresh decision of a case. A judgment cannot be reviewed except when a glaring omission, a patent mistake or a grave error had crept in it. Moreover, a contesting party respondent had disputed the reliability and genuineness of the video clip. The petitioners had no specific case as to when the video clip was recorded.

“In view of Section 4A of the Kerala Anatomy Act, what is germane is the expression of unequivocal request to donate the body by a person during his last illness. The competent authority has found that the deceased had expressed his wish as contemplated in the Section,” the court said and concluded that there was no reason to find fault with the findings and to interfere (in it).

A single judge of the High Court had earlier dismissed Ms. Asha’s petition. The judge had previously directed the Principal of the medical college to consider Ms. Asha’s objections before taking a decision. After reviewing her objections, the Principal rejected them and accepted the body for educational purposes. The single judge had upheld this, allowing Mr. Lawrence’s son to donate the body to the medical college.