Power of State Government to authorize officers to act under Section 5

The State Government may, by notification authorize for the area or any part thereof in which this Act comes into force one or more officers to whom a report shall be made under Section 5 and who shall be competent to act under the said section. (1) Where a person dies in a hospital or in a prison the officer-in-charge of such hospital or prison shall immediately report the fact to the nearest relative mentioned in the records of the patient or prisoner. If the said relative does not claim the body within 72 hours, the dead body shall be disposed off in the manner laid down in Section 5 of the Act. (2) Pending receipt of the claim, if any, in pursuance of sub-rule (1) the dead body shall be removed to the hospital or the teaching medical institution, as the case may be, for preservation from decay. (3) If such body is not claimed within the period specified in sub-rule (1) the authorised officer shall proceed to dispose of the body in the manner laid down in Section 5 of the Act. (4) If any of the approved institutions does not require the dead body for the anatomical examination and dissection, the authorised officer concerned shall deliver it to the rightful claimant or if no such claim is forthcoming, dispose of the dead body by cremation or burial, as the case may be. (1) Where a person dies in a hospital or a prison or a public place and does not appear to have any near relative or other person to claim the body, the person in charge of such hospital, prison or any other person in whose custody the dead body has been found, shall report the fact of such death to the authorised officer. (2) The authorised officer to whom a report is made under sub-section (1), shall, with the least practicable delay, take charge of the unclaimed body and may hand it over to any approved institution for the purpose of medical examination or dissection or for any other therapeutic purpose.