Delhi HC declines plea on graves of Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhatt in Tihar

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a plea seeking removal of the graves of Mohammad Afzal Guru and Mohammad Maqbool Bhatt from the Tihar Jail premises.

A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela allowed the petitioners to withdraw the plea and treated it as “dismissed as withdrawn”.

“For approaching the court for a relief in a PIL, you have to show us violation of constitutional rights, fundamental rights or statutory rights. No law or rule prohibits cremation or burial inside the jail premises,” the Bench observed.

Bhatt, convicted of terrorism charges, was executed in 1984, while Guru was hanged in February 2013 after being sentenced to death in the 2001 Parliament attack case.

The plea, filed by Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh and Jitendra Singh, argued that the graves’ presence was “illegal, unconstitutional, and against public interest”, claiming they had turned the jail into a site of “radical pilgrimage”.

While agreeing that “there should be no pilgrimage or glorification”, the Bench said any order must be based on evidence that people were visiting the graves to pay homage.

The plea further contended that the existence of the graves violated the Delhi Prisons Rules, 2018, which mandate disposal of bodies of executed prisoners in a manner that prevents glorification, ensures prison discipline, and maintains public order.