IAF Personnel Killing Case- Yasin Malik Requests For Hearing After Ramzan: Supreme Court Adjourns CBI's Plea For Virtual Cross Examination To April 4
Initially, the Court adjourned the hearing for March 24; however, after Malik's request for postponement until after Ramzan, the Supreme Court adjourned the case to April 4.
The Supreme Court today adjourned the hearing of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea challenging a Jammu court’s order requiring the physical production of Yasin Malik for witness examination.
The case is related to the killing of four Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel. Malik, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief, is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, serving a sentence in a terror funding case.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan initially scheduled the hearing for March 24 but postponed it to April 4 after Malik requested that the hearing be kept after the conclusion of Ramzan.
During the hearing, Yasin Malik was appearing in person through video conferencing from Tihar Jail, while Senior Advocate M.A Goni appeared for the other respondents.
The CBI sought a passover as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was unavailable.
However, the Court denied the request, stating that a passover was not possible and instead adjourned the case to another date.
The matter will now be taken up by the Supreme Court on April 4.
Previous Hearing
It is to be noted that on February 21, the Supreme Court had permitted the virtual appearance of separatist leader Yasin Malik in the case. The Court had directed that Malik be informed of the order and appear virtually for the proceedings. It had ordered the jail superintendent of Tihar Central Prison to ensure Malik’s presence through video conferencing on March 7.
On January 20, the Supreme Court had emphasized that effective cross-examination via VC is essential and directed the Registrar General of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to investigate and upgrade the system. "We have perused the observations made by the judge. At two places he has recorded that the video conference system in his court is not functioning properly.
Pertinently, on November 28, 2024, the Court was informed by the SG that a courtroom with all facilities, such as video conferencing, already exists in the jail in Delhi where Malik is lodged and that judicial proceedings have previously been held in that courtroom. Mehta had also informed the Court that the CBI has moved two applications before the Court. One asks for the transfer of trial to the jail in Delhi and the other one for amending the memo of parties and the cause title. Accordingly, the Court had issued notice to Malik.
Background
The first case against Malik relates to the killing of four Indian Air Force officials in an attack in January 1990 in Rawalpora in district Srinagar. A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Court in Jammu is hearing the matter. In September 2021, the Court issued a production warrant for Malik to appear physically, which the CBI has assailed before the Supreme Court. The second relates to the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed in 1989, the daughter of the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Previously, the Special TADA Court in Jammu has offered legal aid to Yasin Malik, but he turned it down and insisted on his physical appearance in the hearing.
In the last hearing on November 21, Mehta said Malik has, in the past, shared dais with Hafiz Saeed to emphasise the security concerns of the State and that “he is not yet another terrorist.” The SGI stated that Malik’s request to personally cross examine witnesses is a “card up his sleeve” and that the State was willing to provide an advocate to represent him, but “he is refusing... We (the State) cannot go by the book in such cases.”
Cause Title: Central Bureau of Investigation v. Mohd. Yasin Malik [SLP(Crl) 5526-5527/2023]
