Exactly a year after Delhi's Patiala House Court awarded him life imprisonment, the National Investigation Agency has moved the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for the chairman of banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik who was convicted in connection with Jammu & Kashmir terror funding case.
A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh will hear the matter on Monday. Though the NIA has earlier demanded capital punishment for Malik before the trial court, it was refused by the Court stating that the death penalty should be awarded only in exceptional cases "where the crime by its nature shocks the collective consciousness of the society."
NIA's plea is listed for hearing on Monday before a Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh.
Life imprisonment awarded to Yasin Malik on May 25, 2022
Although the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had demanded the death penalty for the chairman of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik in a terror funding case, the Court on May 25, 2022, awarded life imprisonment and a fine to the tune of Rs 10 lakh to the separatist leader of the Valley.
Special Judge Praveen Singh at Delhi's Patiala House Court had also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Malik, who had earlier pleaded guilty to all the charges, including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Yasin Malik was earlier convicted in a terror funding case. The NIA had submitted before special judge Praveen Singh, while the amicus curiae appointed by the court to assist Malik sought life imprisonment, the minimum punishment in the matter.
The special NIA court had found Malik, already lodged in Tihar jail, guilty of charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Malik was arrested for his role in fomenting unrest in Kashmir during separatist agitations in 2010 and 2016.
As reported earlier, the court had framed charges in March after noting that it was prima facie established that Malik and Shabir Shah, former MLA Engineer Rashid, Altaf Fantoosh, Masrat Alam, and Hurriyat/Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) were the direct recipients of terror funds.
The Court had also noted then that Malik had set up an elaborate mechanism across the world to raise funds for carrying out terrorist and other unlawful activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik pleaded guilty in the same case
On May 10, 2022, Yasin Malik had pleaded guilty before the NIA court in the same terror funding case. Malik may get a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
Accused in a 2017 terror-funding case probed by the NIA Yasin Malik pleaded guilty to all charges framed against him before a special NIA court in Delhi. He has been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for committing a terrorist act, raising funds for terrorism, being a member of a terrorist group and part of a criminal conspiracy, and for sedition.
On March 19, 2022, the NIA Court had ordered the framing of charges against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, and others under various sections of UAPA in a case pertaining to the terrorist and secessionist activities that disturbed the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik was arrested on April 4, 2019, for his role in fomenting unrest in Kashmir during separatist agitations in 2010 and 2016.
The Court also ordered the framing of charges against former MLA Rashid Engineer, businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Bitta Karate, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Avatar Ahmad Shah, Naeem Khan, Bashir Ahmed Bhat, alias Peer Saifullah, and several others under various sections of Indian Penal Code and UAPA including criminal conspiracy, waging war against the country, unlawful activities, etc.
According to the NIA various terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with the support of ISI of Pakistan, perpetrated violence in the Valley by attacking civilians and security forces.
