The Supreme Court, on Friday, issued a directive mandating that Yasin Malik, the incarcerated chief of the proscribed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, appear before a Jammu court through video conferencing from Tihar Jail on March 27.
A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan determined that the Jammu sessions court possessed the necessary technological infrastructure to facilitate virtual proceedings.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has petitioned for the transfer of trial proceedings in 2 pivotal cases—the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former Union Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and the 1990 Srinagar shootout that resulted in the deaths of four Indian Air Force personnel—from Jammu to New Delhi.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, apprised the court that, according to a report submitted by the registrar general of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, the video conferencing facilities in the Jammu court were fully operational.
Mehta further contended that Malik and his co-accused were employing procedural delays to hinder the judicial process. He emphasized that Malik had refused legal representation, while other accused individuals actively opposed the transfer of the trial.
Previously, the Supreme Court had instructed the registrar general of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to ensure that the Jammu special court was adequately equipped for virtual proceedings in both cases involving Malik. On December 18, 2024, the apex court granted six accused individuals a 2-week period to respond to the CBI’s petition seeking the relocation of the trial.
The CBI’s plea pertains to 2 historically significant incidents: the January 25, 1990, attack in Srinagar that resulted in the deaths of four Indian Air Force personnel and the December 8, 1989, abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed. Malik remains a principal accused in both cases.
Currently, the court is reviewing the CBI’s challenge to a September 20, 2022, order issued by a Jammu trial court, which had directed Malik’s physical presence in court to facilitate the cross-examination of prosecution witnesses in the abduction case.
The CBI has vigorously opposed Malik’s physical production in court, asserting that he constitutes a significant threat to national security and should not be transported outside Tihar Jail. Rubaiya Sayeed, who was released 5 days after her abduction following the then BJP-backed V.P. Singh government’s contentious decision to free 5 militants in exchange, remains a key prosecution witness in the CBI’s case. The investigative agency formally assumed jurisdiction over the probe in the early 1990s.
Malik has been incarcerated in Tihar Jail since May 2023, following his conviction by a special National Investigation Agency court in a terror-funding case.
Court’s impending decision on the CBI’s plea is expected to have significant legal ramifications for Malik and other accused individuals involved in these cases of enduring legal and political consequence.
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