Former Terrorist and JKLF chief Yasin Malik faces trial in Jammu for gunning down of IAF personnel and the kidnapping of Rubiya Syed which happened about 30 years back. Yasin Malik is part of the separatist’s group opposing Indian rule and this is for the first time he is being put on trials.
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In a 27-page judgement, Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta also vacated an order by a single bench of the high court which had stayed trial against Malik in 1995, besides observing that the October 25, 2008 order of special TADA court of Jammu allowing Malik’s petition for shifting trial to Srinagar was not correct. “
From bare perusal of contents of petitions and relief sought therein, one can definitely come to conclusion that petitioners (Malik) have sought transfer of their cases from designated court Jammu to additional court at Srinagar, which is not permissible under law,” Justice Gupta said in his order.
Malik is presently lodged in Tihar jail in New Delhi after being arrested by the NIA in a case related to the financing of terror and separatists organisations.
The two cases relate to the killing of Indian Air Force officers on January 25, 1990, in the outskirts of Srinagar city and the kidnapping of then union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s daughter in 1989. Two chargesheets were filed by the CBI in August and September 1990 against Malik before the designated TADA court in Jammu.
In 1995, he was granted a stay on trial by a single bench of the Jammu and Kashmir high court as there was no TADA court in Srinagar.
In 2008, Malik approached the special court saying that the trial could be shifted to Srinagar as he was facing a lot of problems of security in view of the Amarnath row —- an agitation which had divided people of Kashmir and Jammu on religious lines over the issue of leasing out land to outsiders during the annual Amarnath pilgrimage.
CBI counsel Monika Kohli argued before the high court that the agency had opposed the transfer of cases to Srinagar which was rejected. She also informed the court that petitions challenging the order of TADA court were filed with the high court but the same could not be heard so far. During the pendency of trial in this case as well, an application was filed by the accused persons seeking transfer of the case to the designated TADA Court at Srinagar. The CBI filed objections and opposed the application, which was rejected by the order dated April 20, 2009.
