HC rejects plea over graves of terrorists
New Delhi, Sept. 25 -- The central government took a conscious and sensitive decision to bury Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru and Kashmiri Separatist leader Mohammad Maqbool Bhatt within Tihar Jail premises at the time of their execution, and this cannot be revisited after more than a decade, the Delhi High Court observed on Wednesday, dismissing a plea seeking removal of their graves from the prison premises.
Mohammad Afzal Guru was sentenced to death and executed in Tihar Jail in February 2013 for his involvement in the 2001 Parliament attack. Mohammad Maqbool Bhat was hanged in February 1984 in connection with the abduction and murder of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre in the UK, an act carried out by an alleged member of the now-banned terror outfit Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).
Dealing with a petition filed by Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh and a man named Jitendra Singh, a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela opined that only the competent authority could take a call on such matters and judicial intervention was unwarranted in the absence of a law barring burial or cremation inside the premises.
The existence of the graves, the court said, did not amount to public nuisance as per the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act.
Sangh's lawyer Manoj Sinha submitted that the presence of graves in Tihar had turned the jail "into a site for radical pilgrimage" where extremists elements were gathering to pay homage.
Considering the contention, the court said the graves have been in jail for some time and that the government's decision was "in view the fallout of the body being given to the family members or permitting burial outside".
It added, "No law or statue prohibits burial or cremation inside jail. You're terming it to be a nuisance within the meaning of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (Act). Prima facie, it may be anything but a nuisance within the meaning of the act."
On Sinha's claim that the graves were being treated as a pilgrimage the bench acknowledged the concerns, but said no evidence was submitted to support his assertion....
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