In what is being viewed as a retaliatory legal move, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court against Indic researchers and legal activists who were involved in efforts that led to the demolition of an alleged illegal encroachment near Turkman Gate earlier this year.
The petition names several activists including Preet Singh and Sanjeev Newar, along with organisations linked to their work, Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation and Rashtra Jyoti, as respondents. The plea has reportedly been filed by one Mohd Qamran, a resident of the Turkman Gate locality.
The litigation follows the January demolition drive carried out on Turkman Road/Ramlila Maidan, where authorities removed what was described in official action as a large-scale encroachment on public land allegedly linked to the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque committee. The demolition had come after sustained research, documentation, advocacy, and legal interventions by the named activists and their organisations.
According to the petition, the court’s intervention has been sought to regulate what it calls the “misuse and abuse of the process of law,” alleging that communal elements file frivolous writ petitions in High Courts in collusion with authorities to target religious sites for political ends and inflame tensions.
However, those named in the plea have strongly rejected the framing, maintaining that their work was rooted in lawful civic activism aimed at reclaiming public land from encroachment. They have asserted that the demolition was conducted through due legal process and administrative action, not vigilantism.
Responding to the petition, the activists said they were fully prepared for a legal battle and would contest the case on facts and law. They further stated that attempts to intimidate or silence advocacy on illegal land grabs would not deter their work.
IMPORTANT
A petition has been filed in Delhi high court against us – @BhaiPreetSingh, @SanjeevSanskrit and me
Our organisations @sewanyaya and @RashtraJyoti are also named
Why? Because our combined research, reporting, advocacy and legal activism led to lawful demolition of… pic.twitter.com/wEZhH96OHi
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) February 4, 2026
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