‘Even Ajmal Kasab received a fair trial’: Supreme Court appealed to CBI in Yasin Malik case – India News

Despite the fair trial of Ajmal Kasab in our country, the Supreme Court on Thursday stated that a courtroom could be set up in Tihar Jail to try J&K separatist leader Yasin Malik in the kidnap case.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Augustine George Masih was hearing the CBI’s plea against the September 20, 2022 order of the Jammu court, which held Malik in office. life Prosecution witnesses in the kidnapping case of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of politician Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, will be kept in Tihar jail for some time for physical cross-examination.

However, the panel stated: “How will cross-examination be conducted online? There is almost no connectivity in Jammu… In our country, even Ajmal Kasab was given a fair trial and he was given legal aid in the high court.” The bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, to take directions about the total number of witnesses in the case.

Mehta pointed out security concerns and said Malik could not be taken to Jammu for the hearing.

The law clerk accused Malik of “cheating” because he wanted to appear in person and did not meet with a lawyer. Mehta said Malik was no ordinary criminal and showed a photograph of Malik allegedly sharing the dais with terrorist Hafiz Saeed.

The high court said that in addition to asking the judge to come to the capital for the trial, it could also decide to hold the trial in prison.

However, the board noted that all defendants on the matter should be heard before passing the decision.

Mehta said Malik appeared physically on stage. Supreme Court has previously expressed security concerns.

The bench said Malik may be allowed to appear virtually at higher-level court hearings and posted the matter on November 28.

Meanwhile, the CBI has been directed to amend its petition and charge all the accused as defendants.

In 2023, Mehta wrote a letter to the then Union Home Minister Ajay Kumar Bhalla stating that there was a “serious security lapse” after Malik was brought to the Supreme Court to hear a case.

Malik, who is serving a life sentence in the terrorism financing case, was brought to the high-security superior court building in a prison van, accompanied by armed security personnel, without the court’s permission.

Expressing surprise at his presence, Mehta informed the high court that there is a procedure for allowing high-risk convicts into the courtroom to plead their cases personally.

The CBI said Malik, a senior leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was a threat to national security and could not be allowed outside the Tihar jail premises.

On April 24, 2023, the top court issued notices regarding the CBI’s appeal, following which the jailed JKLF chief wrote to the Registrar of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2023, seeking permission to appear in court in person to plead his case.

A deputy registrar accepted his request on July 18, 2023 and said the top court would issue necessary orders; This decision was reportedly misinterpreted by Tihar prison authorities to allow Malik to appear and plead his case.

Mehta cited the CBI’s contention in his appeal against the court order to bring Malik to Jammu for personal interrogation of witnesses in the kidnapping case and that certain persons of a state government have been shifted from the confines of a prison under Section 268 of the CrPC.

On September 20, 2022, a special TADA court in Jammu directed Malik to be physically produced before it in the next hearing to cross-examine prosecution witnesses in the kidnapping case.

The CBI challenged the court order in the Supreme Court as appeals in TADA cases are heard only by the top court.

Rubaiya was abducted near Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar on December 8, 1989 and was released five days after the incident. bjpVice President Singh’s government at the Center in return released five terrorists.

Mufti, who now lives in Tamil Nadu, is a prosecution witness for the CBI, which took over the case in the early 1990s.

Malik was sent to Tihar jail after being convicted in the terror financing case by a special NIA court in May 2023.