New Delhi, March 18 The Association for Protection of Civil Rights, a civil rights group, approached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday to prevent "imminent communal violence" during Eid in Uttam Nagar, where a 26-year-old man was killed in a clash during Holi.
Senior advocate Nitya Ramkrishnan raised this urgent plea before a bench comprising Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia on Wednesday, stating that there is a fear of "serious violence" during Eid.
The bench allowed the plea, but the petition was not listed for hearing on that day.
The public interest litigation (PIL) stated that the death of Tarun during Holi has been "communalized" through "coordinated dissemination of inflammatory content, mobilization of crowds, and organization of protests and public gatherings".
The petition asserted that multiple rallies and assemblies organized across Delhi have openly incited violence against members of the Muslim community, specifically targeting the Eid festival, yet authorities have failed to take action.
"Slogans advocating extrajudicial killings, economic boycott, and social exclusion have been raised, creating an atmosphere of fear, hostility, and an imminent threat to life and property. Many of these hate speeches are specifically targeting the Eid festival, which is to be celebrated on March 20 or 21, 2026, and explicitly advocating that Muslims in Uttam Nagar will be prevented from celebrating the Eid festival," the petition stated.
"The continuing inaction of the respondents has resulted in a breakdown of the rule of law and has caused 'constitutional harm' by violating the fundamental rights of the affected community under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India, including the right to equality, freedom, dignity, and life."
"The situation is further aggravated by the fear that there will be disruptions to the peaceful observance of Eid, both by vigilante groups and also by the police. There are credible apprehensions of further escalation of communal tensions and targeted violence, in light of ongoing calls for disruption and retaliation," the petition said.
The petitioner has prayed for directions to authorities to prevent, control, and mitigate the potential outbreak of large-scale communal violence and cognate crimes in Uttam Nagar and to protect the life, liberty, and property of all citizens.
The respondents in the PIL include the Delhi Police, the city government, and the Centre.
The plea has urged the court to issue an order "directing the respondents to enhance security arrangements, including the deployment of adequate police personnel, the deployment of CCTV cameras, and intelligence gathering, in sensitive areas to deter any planned communal violence and to provide a sense of safety and security to the affected groups, localities, and persons, and to ensure the peaceful observance of the Eid festival."
It has also sought the registration of FIRs over the "hundreds of hate-speech videos" related to the Uttam Nagar incident that are widely circulated on social media.
Several people, including a minor, have been apprehended in connection with the death of the 26-year-old man, who was killed in a clash between two neighboring families with long-standing disputes during Holi celebrations in southwest Delhi's Uttam Nagar.