PUCL Delhi is the Delhi unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, a national organisation with units in ten states across the country.

PUCL Delhi firmly believes in the principles of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Justice enshrined in the Constitution of India in both letter and spirit and works towards the defence and promotion of these ideals.

History

People’s Union for Civil Liberties was formed on 17 October 1976, initially as People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights in a seminar held at Constitution Club,Vithalbhai Patel House,New Delhi which was inaugurated by Acharya JB Kriplani. It was launched as a movement,Jaypraksh Narayant who was under house arresr was elected as President, Justice V.M. Tarkunde (Retd) as Working President and Krishnakant as General Secretary. This was the time when the Emergency had already been declared in the country. In Delhi, a unit was formed of which Mr. Vishnu Dutt Sharma was chosen as the President and Mr. ND Pancholi as General Secretary. In November 1980, a national convention of civil rights workers was held in which the constitution of People’s Union for Civil Liberties was adopted, and it was decided that the organisation would be a membership organisation. The national convention elected Mr. V. M. Tarkunde as .President and Mr. Arun Shourie as the General Secretary. Since then, PUCL has been very active in pursuing its goal of defending and promoting civil liberties within the country.

After the Sikh carnage in 1984, PUCL along with PUDR came out with the historic report “Who are the guilty?” This report has been the basis of a number of commissions and prosecutions. PUCL has also undertaken a number of campaigns to promote civil liberties and has also been involved in a large number of Public Interest litigations which have had a wide-ranging impact on the society.

The Delhi unit of PUCL was reorganised in 1980 when Mr. Inder Mohan, a veteran journalist, was chosen as the President and Mr. George Mathew was elected the General Secretary. Mr. Tajinder Singh Ahuja, who is currently the General Secretary, was one of the secretaries of the Delhi unit.