The Delhi High Court on Monday said it will consider on January 28 the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) request to conduct in-camera proceedings in its plea seeking the death penalty for Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik in a terror funding case.
A bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain said, “We will consider. List on January 28,” after NIA counsel Akshai Malik sought a separate video link not accessible to the public for the hearing.
The agency has challenged the May 24, 2022, order of the trial court which sentenced Malik to life imprisonment for offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The trial court had held that though Malik was convicted for “waging war against the Government of India,” the case did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category to warrant the death penalty.
Appearing virtually from Tihar Jail, Malik objected to the adjournment, saying that keeping him “in limbo” over the death penalty plea amounted to mental harassment.
“It’s been three years since NIA’s appeal has been pending. I had served the affidavit three months ago. Keeping a person in psychological torture, whether he will be hanged or not…,” he told the bench in Hindi.
On August 9, 2024, Malik had informed the court that he would argue the case himself.
In his 85-page reply to NIA’s petition, Malik claimed that after renouncing armed struggle in 1994, he worked closely with Indian government and intelligence officials under a ceasefire agreement. He said that all successive Union governments, including the current one led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (till 2019), had honoured the ceasefire understanding.
“None of these cases against me were pursued, thereafter, in terms of understanding under the ceasefire agreement, during the dispensations of Shri PV Narasimha Rao. The promise was kept by every single dispensation of the Indian government, including by the PM Shri Narendra Modi in his first phase till 2019,” his affidavit stated.
Malik also claimed to have held closed-door meetings with senior government representatives and prominent figures as part of the peace process.
The JKLF chief was sentenced to life imprisonment for offences under Section 121 (waging war against the Government of India) of the IPC and Section 17 (raising funds for a terrorist act) of the UAPA. While Section 121 carries a maximum punishment of death, the trial court had opted for life imprisonment, noting that the case did not justify capital punishment.
The High Court will now take up the NIA’s request for in-camera hearings on January 28.
