Delhi HC Declines Plea to Remove Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhat Graves from Tihar Jail

The Delhi High Court has declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the removal of graves of Kashmiri separatist leaders Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat from Tihar Jail. However, the Court agreed that the graves must not be turned into places of pilgrimage or glorification.

A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela made it clear that decisions regarding removal of graves fall within the government’s domain, especially keeping law and order in mind.

The PIL, filed by Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh, argued that the presence of these graves had turned Tihar into a site of “radical pilgrimage,” thereby glorifying terrorism. It sought the relocation of the remains to a secret location in line with prison rules.

During the hearing, the Court asked the petitioner to show which law had been violated. The Bench pointed out that there is no statutory prohibition against graves in prisons and questioned why the matter was raised after nearly 12 years.

The petitioner relied on newspaper reports to claim that people were visiting the graves, but the Court emphasised that such serious allegations require empirical data, not media reports or social media posts.

The Bench underlined that while last rites of prisoners must be respected, no site should be allowed to become a place of glorification. It also noted that the government’s decision to allow burial inside the jail was aimed at preventing law and order issues.

Eventually, the petitioner withdrew the PIL with liberty to file a fresh one backed by proper data.