Delhi High Court Seeks Jail Report After Yasin Malik Fails to Appear via Video in Terror Funding Case
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought a report from jail authorities after separatist leader Yasin Malik was not produced before it virtually in a terror funding case.
A bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Arun Bhardwaj noted that Malik was supposed to appear before the court through video conferencing. "Respondent (Malik) had to be produced virtually before us. However, it is not done. Let a report in this regard be called from the jail superintendent concerned," the bench said.
Malik, the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), is lodged in Tihar jail, where he is serving a life term in the case. The court listed the matter for further hearing on December 9 and directed that Malik be made to join the proceedings virtually on that day.
The court was hearing a plea by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking the death penalty for Malik. Malik had earlier said he wishes to argue in person against the NIA's plea to enhance his punishment from life imprisonment to death penalty.
On May 29, 2023, the High Court issued notice to Malik on the NIA's plea and sought his presence before it on the next date. Jail authorities later filed an application seeking permission for his virtual appearance, saying he was a "very high-risk prisoner" and that physically producing him in court could disturb public order and safety. The High Court allowed that request.
On May 24, 2022, a trial court in Delhi sentenced Malik to life imprisonment after holding him guilty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code. Malik had pleaded guilty to the charges, including those under the UAPA, and was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Appealing against the sentence, the NIA argued that a terrorist cannot be given a life term merely because he has pleaded guilty and chosen not to go through trial. Seeking the death penalty, the NIA said that if such terrorists are not given capital punishment for pleading guilty, there would be a complete erosion of sentencing policy and terrorists would have a way to avoid capital punishment.
In his reply to the NIA's appeal, Malik said he spent nearly three decades as a key figure in a state-sanctioned "back-channel" mechanism, working with a succession of prime ministers, intelligence chiefs and even business tycoons to foster peace in Jammu and Kashmir. In an 85-page affidavit, Malik shared details of his journey, from his school days to links with terrorists and meetings with political leaders.
In its rejoinder, the NIA said that taking the names of senior politicians and bureaucrats does not absolve the convict or negate his links with militants like Hafiz Saeed. It asserted that Malik was "well connected with multiple terrorist organisations and with supporters of the terrorist organisation LeT", and that he dropped the names of senior politicians, media personnel, foreign delegates and bureaucrats to gain popularity and draw public sympathy.
The trial court, which had rejected the NIA's plea for the death penalty, said the crimes committed by Malik struck at the "heart of the idea of India" and were intended to forcefully secede Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India. It, however, noted that the case was not the "rarest of rare", warranting the death penalty.
Source: Verdictum