The Delhi High Court has directed Yasin Malik, a Kashmiri separatist leader, to respond to the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) appeal seeking the death penalty for him in a 2017 terror funding case. A division bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Shalinder Kaur granted Malik four weeks to file his reply, with the next hearing scheduled for November 10.
The case revolves around the NIA's appeal to enhance Malik's life sentence, which he is currently serving, to capital punishment. Malik, the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in May 2022 after pleading guilty to charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The trial court, however, had rejected the NIA's plea for the death penalty, stating that the case did not meet the Supreme Court's threshold of the "rarest of rare" category.
During Monday's proceedings, Advocate Akshai Malik, special counsel for the NIA, referred to a previous court order from August 9, 2024, where Yasin Malik had expressed his intention to defend himself in the case. The order had also specified that Malik would attend the proceedings via video conferencing due to security concerns. However, Malik did not appear virtually during the hearing, prompting the bench to reiterate its directive for his virtual presence at the next session. The court directed jail authorities to ensure his virtual presence on November 10.
The NIA is arguing for the death penalty, asserting that the life term is insufficient for Malik's offenses, especially considering his guilty plea in the terror funding case. The agency has emphasized that a terrorist should not be given a lenient sentence simply because they pleaded guilty and skipped the trial.
In its judgment, the trial court had dismissed Malik's claim of following Gandhian non-violence, pointing to his active involvement in unlawful and violent activities based on presented evidence and charges. The evidence included allegations of his visits to terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and his involvement in mobilizing illegal funds for violent activities and protests in the Kashmir Valley. The trial court had stated that Malik's crimes struck at the "heart of the idea of India" and were intended to forcefully secede Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India.
In March 2022, charges were framed against Malik and several others, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, and others. However, three accused, Kamran Yusuf, Javed Ahmad Bhatt, and Syeda Aasiya Firdous Andrabi, were discharged.
The Delhi High Court, in a separate but related development, recently upheld the Union Home Ministry's decision to extend the ban on the JKLF for another five years. The tribunal emphasized that "no tolerance" should be shown toward organizations that openly advocate secessionism, challenging Malik's assertion that he abandoned armed resistance in 1994. Political observers suggest that the NIA's pursuit of the death penalty for Yasin Malik is part of a broader strategy to suppress political voices in Jammu and Kashmir.
