The Kerala High Court division bench ruled in favour of handing over the body of veteran CPI(M) leader M.M. Lawrence to Ernakulam Medical College, dismissing an appeal filed by his daughter Asha opposing the decision. On December 9, the mediator appointed by the Division Bench to resolve the dispute over handing over of the body informed the Kerala High Court that the dispute could not be settled amicably.
The veteran leftist leader passed away on September 21 at the age of 95. Lawrence joined the Communist Party in 1946 and became an influential member of the party's central committee, serving until 1998. His political activism began with organising manual scavengers and later expanded into broader labour movements as he took on leadership roles within the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and the Cochin Port Labour Union. From 1980 to 1984, Lawrence represented the Idukki constituency as a Member of Parliament.
Lawrence's son, M.L. Sajeevan, had consented to donating his father’s body to the anatomy wing of Ernakulam Medical College. However, Asha Lawrence challenged this decision in the Kerala High Court, opposing both her brother and the CPI(M)'s initiative to donate her father’s body. Asha argued that though her father was a CPI(M) member, he was not against religion or religious practices and deserved a Christian funeral.
The Kerala High Court's single bench had earlier observed that Lawrence had expressed his wish to donate his body in the presence of two witnesses, fulfilling the requirements under Section 4A of the Kerala Anatomy Act. Asha contended that the single bench had misinterpreted Section 4A, arguing that when there is a dispute regarding body donation, the authorities should not have accepted the donation.
Despite her arguments, the division bench of the High Court dismissed Asha’s appeal. On October 1, the court had directed that Lawrence’s mortal remains be kept in the mortuary at Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) until the donation dispute could be resolved.
