Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: NIA on Wednesday pressed for enhancement of jailed Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik’s life sentence to a death penalty in a terrorist funding case, contending before Delhi HC that naming senior politicians and bureaucrats did not absolve him or dilute his links with terrorists such as Lashkar-e-Taiba cofounder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, both based in Pakistan.In a rejoinder to Malik’s affidavit, NIA said the 60-year-old chief of J&K Liberation Front was “well connected with multiple terrorist organisations” and invoked names of politicians, media personnel, foreign delegates and bureaucrats to gain popularity and sympathy.NIA said the case rested on evidence, not hearsay or “emotional narration”, and cited material to claim Malik was in contact with Pakistani brass, including PM, president, senators and provincial CMs, to propagate anti-India narratives and further secessionist agenda in J&K. The agency argued that Malik could not “revisit” issues after his conviction, saying there had been ample opportunity to raise objections during trial.A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja took the rejoinder on record and listed the appeal for July 21. The court said a copy would be supplied to Malik, who appeared virtually from Tihar jail.Malik earlier claimed he spent nearly three decades in a state-backed “backchannel”, working with successive PMs, intelligence chiefs and business figures to promote peace in J&K. His 85-page affidavit details his journey from school to militant links and alleged meetings with politicians.“The convict himself has admitted he was commander-in-chief of JKLF,” NIA said. It cited Malik’s own admissions of connections with Salahuddin and other terrorists.A Delhi trial court had awarded Malik life imprisonment on May 24, 2022, after convicting him under UAPA and IPC provisions.
