Kerala High Court rejects plea to release MM Lawrence’s body for burial; daughters plan Supreme Court appeal
Kerala High Court dismisses plea to release late CPM leader MM Lawrence's body for burial, upholding decision to retain it for medical studies; daughters to appeal to Supreme Court.
FollowThe Kerala High Court has dismissed the plea filed by the daughters of late CPM leader MM Lawrence to release his body for burial according to religious rites. Upholding the decision of Kalamassery Medical College to retain the body for medical studies, the High Court Division Bench delivered the verdict. This comes after a similar dismissal by a single bench earlier.
Lawrence’s daughters, Sujatha and Asha, had filed the appeal seeking the release of their father’s body for burial in a cemetery, citing his last wishes. Despite the High Court's ruling, Asha Lawrence has declared that they will now approach the Supreme Court to continue the legal battle.
Speaking to *Asianet News*, Asha Lawrence said, "The legal fight will continue. The courts are obligated to deliver justice. My father had told my elder sister Suja that he wanted to be buried in the cemetery. The witnesses presented in court did not care for my father, and they are false witnesses. He never expressed, publicly, privately, or in writing, that his body should be donated to the medical college. My mother and brother were buried in the church."
The controversy stems from the decision by the High Court’s single bench, which had ordered the body’s handover to the Medical Education Department for study, based on the testimony of two witnesses. These witnesses alleged that Lawrence had expressed his wishes to his son, ML Sajeevan, to donate his body for medical research.
However, the daughters contested this ruling, maintaining that their father had never made such a request. Despite their appeal, the single bench upheld the witnesses’ credibility, dismissing Asha Lawrence's petition.
Currently, the body remains at Ernakulam Medical College.
MM Lawrence passed away on September 21 while undergoing treatment for pneumonia at a private hospital in Kochi. He retired from official CPM committees after the party's state conference in Alappuzha in 2015 and was living a retired life at the time of his passing.
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