The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik and directed to file a reply in four weeks. The investigating agency NIA has filed an appeal to increase the sentence of imprisonment of Yasin Malik in the Terror Funding case of 2017. Now the Delhi High Court will hear the case on 10 November.
NIA demands to increase Yasin Malik’s sentence
During the hearing before the bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Shalinder Kaur in the Delhi High Court, the NIA counsel cited an order of 9 August 2024 to the Delhi High Court, in which Yasin Malik expressed his desire to present himself. The order also directed to appear through his video conferencing due to security reasons, but Yasin Malik did not even appear during the hearing, after which the court made his online presence mandatory in the next hearing.
Yasin Malik sentenced to life imprisonment in the year 2022
In the year 2022, the NIA Special Court sentenced Yasin Malik to life imprisonment by convicted under UAPA. The trial court had said in its order that the matter does not fall in the rarest of rare category fixed by the Supreme Court. Therefore, the death penalty cannot be given in this case. The court also rejected Yasin Malik’s claim, in which he described himself as the leader of the Gandhian and non -violent movement.
NIA accused of spreading disturbance in Kashmir
According to the allegations made by the NIA, Yasin Malik is accused of conspiring to spread unrest in Jammu and Kashmir in collaboration with Pakistan -based terrorist organizations. In March 2022, accused were framed against Yasin Malik and other accused Hafiz Saeed, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, Rashid Engineer, Jahur Ahmed Shah Watali, Shahid Islam, Altaf Ahmed Shah alias Fantush.
However, Kamran Yusuf, Javed Ahmed Bhatt and Syeda Asiya Firdaus Andrabi were acquitted in this case. The 2018 charge sheet of the investigating agency NIA also mentions the leadership structure of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, which shows Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as prominent leaders of Joint Resistance Leadership.
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