Defacing signboards to assaulting Prashant Bhushan — the many cases against Ajmer Sharif petitioner Vishnu Gupta

Gupta, 40, was born in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and moved to Delhi at a young age. He joined the Shiv Sena’s youth wing as a student, and became part of the Bajrang Dal in 2008.

In 2011, he and some others founded the Hindu Sena, an organisation that he claims has “lakhs of members” now, with units in “almost all parts of India”.

On its website, the Hindu Sena says it “aims to oppose the Islamisation in any form, Sharia law implementation, love jihad and Islamic extremism in India”, and that it would “highlight and protest and take legal action against any person/entity causing harm to the sovereignty of India and Sanatana Dharma”.

His petition in Ajmer is the not the first time he or his outfit have knocked on the court’s doors. In 2022, a Bench led by the then Supreme Court Judge, Justice D Y Chandrachud, rejected an intervention application filed by Gupta in May that year, seeking dismissal of the petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Management Committee, which had challenged the videographic survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi.

In February 2023, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M M Sundresh dismissed a petition by the Hindu Sena seeking a ban on the BBC for its documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots, calling it “completely misconceived”.

In April 2024, the Delhi High Court rejected a petition filed by the Hindu Sena seeking the removal of Arvind Kejriwal from the post of Chief Minister following his arrest.

He and his outfit have also faced several police cases. Asked about these, Gupta said, “I don’t know how many FIRs have been lodged against me. Ab koi chor batayega humne kitni chori kari hai? (Will a thief tell you how much he has stolen?).”

In October 2011, an FIR was lodged against Gupta and BJP’s Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga for allegedly assaulting Bhushan at his chamber in the court. Gupta was subsequently arrested by the Delhi Police. In October 2015, he was arrested for allegedly giving false information about beef being served at Delhi’s Kerala House.

In June 2017, an FIR was lodged against Gupta and Hindu Sena members, allegedly for barging into the CPM headquarters in Delhi and manhandling party general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

In November 2020, a case was lodged against Gupta following a complaint by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation for allegedly defacing the signboard of the India Islamic Cultural Centre and pasting a poster that read Jihadi Terrorist Islamic Centre.

In September 2021, five members of Hindu Sena were arrested for allegedly vandalising the residence of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

In June 2022, the Hindu Sena allegedly organised an event at Vishwagiri temple in Rajouri Garden and held a “sword distribution” in support of Nupur Sharma following her suspension by the BJP for alleged objectionable comments on the Prophet. A complaint was filed before the National Commission for Minorities.

In August 2023, the Delhi Police stopped a mahapanchyat organised by the Hindu Sena, including Gupta, at Jantar Mantar for alleged inflammatory speeches with references to communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh.

He and his outfit have also been in the news for allegedly defacing the signboards of Akbar Road and Feroz Shah Road in Delhi; vandalising the office of Pakistan International Airlines; protesting the then Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Pakistan in 2016; organising a havan to ensure the victory of Trump in the presidential election the same year; amd throwing ink on J&K MLA Engineer Rashid in 2021.