Delhi High Court refuses to entertain PIL to remove graves of Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhatt from Tihar Jail premises

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to hear a plea seeking directions to remove the graves of terrorists Mohammad Afzal Guru and Mohammad Maqbool Bhatt from Tihar Jail premises in Delhi.

Both were sentenced to death and executed inside Tihar Jail.

Noting the court’s stance, the petitioners’ counsel requested permission to withdraw the plea and refile it with additional data. A bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela allowed the withdrawal, treating the PIL as “dismissed as withdrawn.”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.

The plea sought directions to relocate the graves, if necessary, to a secret site to prevent “glorification of terrorism” and misuse of jail premises.

Filed by Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh and Jitendra Singh, the petition claimed that constructing and maintaining these graves in a state-controlled prison was “illegal, unconstitutional, and against public interest.”

Advocate Varun Kumar Sinha, representing the petitioners, argued that the graves had turned Tihar into a site of “radical pilgrimage,” where extremist elements gather to venerate convicted terrorists. “This not only undermines national security and public order, but also sanctifies terrorism in direct contravention of the principles of secularism and rule of law under the Constitution of India,” he said.

The bench questioned the claim, asking for data proving that people visit these graves to pay homage.

The plea also cited the Delhi Prisons Rules, 2018, saying the presence of these graves violates provisions requiring the disposal of executed prisoners’ bodies in a manner that prevents glorification, maintains discipline, and preserves public order.

“The petitioners therefore seek the urgent intervention of this court to direct the respondents to remove the said graves from Tihar Jail and ensure their relocation in a secure, undisclosed manner, in line with established state practice in the cases of executed terrorists such as Ajmal Kasab and Yakub Memon, where every precaution was taken to prevent glorification,” the plea stated.

It added that both Bhatt and Guru, under the influence of “extremist Jihadi ideology,” carried out acts of terrorism that gravely threatened India’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security.

While Bhatt was hanged in 1984, Guru was executed in February 2013.

With inputs from PTI