Overview

• A Division Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice T.R. Gedela dismissed as withdrawn a PIL seeking removal of the graves of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt from Tihar Jail.
• The court questioned the evidentiary basis for claims that the graves have become a pilgrimage site and asked for data rather than assertions or media reports.
• Judges noted the burial decision was a sensitive executive call taken at the time of execution and cautioned against revisiting it after more than a decade.
• The bench observed there is no statutory prohibition on burial or cremation inside prison premises and that such matters lie with the competent authorities.
• Petitioners from Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh alleged risks of glorification and sought relocation to a secret site, but they withdrew with liberty to refile with empirical material.