SC Orders Yasin Malik To Cross-Examine Witnesses Virtually From Tihar

NEW DELHI:
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik to cross-examine witnesses in two cases through video conferencing as it set aside an order of the Jammu court requiring his physical production in the trial proceedings.

Malik, the chief of banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), is facing trial for his alleged role in the killing of IAF officers in Srinagar city in 1990. He is also being tried for a case related to the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, in 1989.

Allowing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea, a bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan directed that Malik be allowed to cross-examine witnesses at trial with the assistance of video conferencing facilities existing in Tihar jail.

The Justice Oka-led Bench passed the order after taking note of the reports filed by the Registrar General of the Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh High Court as well as the Delhi Jail Superintendent regarding the functionality of video conferencing facilities in the trial court and Tihar jail.

Before the apex court, the Central agency contended that it did not wish to take Malik to Jammu and Kashmir due to security reasons. The CBI challenged the order of Additional Sessions Judge Jammu (TADA/POTA), issuing a production warrant against Malik in two different cases.

The Jammu court had sought Malik’s physical appearance for the cross-examination of witnesses in relation to two cases related to abduction and murder. However, the Supreme Court stayed Jammu’s court order.

In November 2024, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, the second highest law officer of the Centre, submitted that a fully functional court with video conferencing facilities existed in Tihar jail after the the apex court suggested the Central agency to explore the possibility of a makeshift courtroom in Tihar jail for conducting the trial of Malik.

SG Mehta stated that the Central agency did not wish to take Malik to Jammu and Kashmir due to security reasons. He also presented a photograph where Malik was seen sharing dais with Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit, and said he is not an ordinary criminal.

Malik is already serving a life sentence in another terror-related case wherein he had confessed his guilt.