New Delhi, Feb 21: The Supreme Court has directed jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik to appear before a Jammu court via video conferencing from Tihar Jail on March 27.
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the Jammu sessions court is well-equipped with video conferencing facilities, allowing for a virtual hearing.
The CBI has sought the transfer of trials related to the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former union minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and the 1990 Srinagar shootout case from Jammu to New Delhi. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, stated that the video conferencing system in the Jammu court was functioning efficiently, as per a report from the Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s registrar general.
Mehta argued that Malik and other accused were deliberately delaying the trial. Malik has refused to appoint a lawyer, while others have opposed the transfer of the case. Previously, the Supreme Court instructed the Jammu and Kashmir High Court registrar general to ensure proper video conferencing facilities for the special court handling Malik’s cases.
On December 18, 2023, the court had granted six accused two weeks to respond to the CBI’s plea for transferring the trials. The cases involve the killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in Srinagar on January 25, 1990, and Rubaiya Sayeed’s abduction on December 8, 1989.
Malik, serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail after being convicted in a terror-funding case in May 2023, is facing trial in both cases. The Supreme Court was hearing a CBI appeal against a Jammu trial court’s September 20, 2022 order, which required Malik to be physically produced in court for cross-examining prosecution witnesses in the abduction case.
The CBI opposed Malik’s physical appearance, citing national security concerns and insisting that he should not be taken out of Tihar Jail. Rubaiya Sayeed, who was released in exchange for five militants in 1989, is a key prosecution witness in the case. She currently resides in Tamil Nadu.
