The NIA has requested the Delhi High Court to conduct a private hearing in its plea seeking the death penalty for separatist leader Yasin Malik. Malik, appearing via video from Tihar Jail, said he has been under “psychological torture” for three years awaiting the verdict.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday asked the Delhi High Court to hold in-camera proceedings in its case seeking the death penalty for Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik.
An in-camera hearing means that the case will be heard privately, and the public will not be allowed to attend or access the proceedings.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Akshai Malik appeared for the NIA and requested the Court to provide a virtual court link that would not be open to the public. The matter was heard by a Division Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain, who said they would consider the NIA’s request.
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During the hearing, Yasin Malik joined the proceedings from Tihar Jail through video conference. He told the Court that he had been living under constant mental pressure for years because of the uncertainty surrounding his punishment.
Malik said,
“Teen saal ho gaye is appeal ko aur meri affidavit ko bhi teen maheene hog gaye. Ek shaksh ko psychologic torture m rakhna ki faansi hai ya nahi…”
(It’s been three years since the appeal was filed [by the NIA] and three months since I filed my affidavit. Keeping a person in psychological torture about whether he will be hanged or not…).
After hearing both sides, the Court said that it would take up the arguments in the case on January 28.
The High Court is currently hearing the NIA’s appeal seeking the death sentence for Yasin Malik, who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court for his alleged involvement in funding terrorism in Kashmir.
The NIA claims that Malik was the “mastermind” behind several terror activities in the Kashmir Valley.
The agency had earlier demanded capital punishment for Malik before the trial court as well, but the court had refused. The trial court had observed that the death penalty should be given only in rare cases
“where the crime by its nature shocks the collective consciousness of the society.”
In his reply to the appeal, Malik said that after his arrest in 1990, he was later engaged by six consecutive governments, starting from the term of VP Singh to Manmohan Singh, to discuss and work on the Kashmir issue peacefully.
He further told the Delhi High Court that he had met Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders in 2006—but only at the request of the then Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director VK Joshi. Malik stated,
“I was specifically requested for this meeting with Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders of Pakistan on the pretext that militancy and peace dialogues cannot go in tandem, given the bomb blast which happened in the National Capital.”
Malik added that after returning from this meeting in Pakistan, he met then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor NK Narayanan to brief them about what had been discussed. He said,
“I met with PM Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor NK Narayanan and briefed them about it.”
The NIA was represented in the Delhi High Court by Special Public Prosecutor Akshai Malik and advocate Khawar Saleem.
The case, which has drawn national attention due to its political and security implications, will next be heard on January 28, when the High Court is expected to continue hearing the arguments on whether Yasin Malik should face the death penalty or continue with his life imprisonment.
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