A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court demanding the removal of the tombs of terrorists Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. There was a demand from an organization named Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh that the tombs of both of them should be removed from the sacred land of India and transferred to the secret place. The court has refused to hear the petition. Due to this, the petitioner has withdrawn his petition.

The bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao questioned the petitioner that what is your fundamental right being violated by keeping these two graves in Tihar Jail? Which rule is being violated? The court clearly told the petitioner that no public interest litigation can be heard according to your wish.

Strange argument given in a petition seeking to remove the grave

The petitioner’s lawyer argued in the court, saying, “It is in the public domain that some people of their community commit crime outside. When they go to jail, they pay tribute to both these tombs. It is like the glory of terrorists.” The court objected to this argument.

The court said that we have already told you to keep your plea limited to legal aspects. You tell us what fundamental or constitutional right you are being violated? The petitioner’s counsel said that there is no provision that allows any convict to be punished in jail.

‘Someone’s funeral should be respected’- Court

The Delhi High Court said that you are originally against burial in jail. This happened in the year 2013, we are in 2025. Someone’s funeral should be respected. Keeping these issues in mind, the government decided to bury in jail. Can we challenge it after 12 years?

The High Court said that the tomb has been built with the consent of the officials, the jail is not a public place. It is a place owned by the state, which has been designed to capture the culprits.

Charges in petition- Jail was made a radical pilgrimage site

In the PIL filed in the High Court, it was requested to direct the concerned officials to transfer the body to a secret place if necessary, so that the ‘glorification of terrorism’ and the misuse of the jail premises could be stopped.

The petition alleged that the presence of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt’s tombs has converted the Tihar Central Jail to a radical pilgrimage site. Where extremist elements gather for the glimpse of the terrorists who were convicted.

A PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court, requesting the removal of the tombs of terrorists Mohammad Afzal Guru and Mohammad Maqbool Bhatt from the Tihar jail premises. The petition stated that Maqbool Bhatt was hanged in February 1984, while Afzal Guru was hanged in February 2013.

The World Vedic Sanatan Sangha, who filed the petition, claims that the presence of these graves in the jail premises is illegal and unconstitutional.

‘Pilgrimage has become a pilgrimage for fundamentalists’

The petition said that with the presence of these tombs, Tihar Jail has become a kind of pilgrimage to the fundamentalists. It is alleged that some people gather here to worship or glorify these terrorists.

This not only affects the national security and public system, but it is also against the principles of secularism and law rule under the Constitution of India. It has also been said in the petition that terrorism can be promoted due to these graves.

Dead body shifted to secret place

In the petition, the court requested that if necessary, the bodies of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt should be transferred to a safe, controlled and secret place.

It has also been clarified in the petition that its purpose is not only the transfer of bodies, but also preventing possible misuse of the jail premises, ending the wrong effects related to the worship of terrorists and strengthening national security and public system.

Now the Delhi High Court will hear this petition and decide whether the jail administration should order to remove or move these tombs. In this case it would be challenging to balance the principles of national security, law and secularism.