SC Directs Yasin Malik To Virtually Appear In Jammu Court From Tihar On March 7

The Supreme Court, on Friday, directed that Yasin Malik, the incarcerated chief of the proscribed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, appear before a Jammu court via video conferencing from Tihar Jail on March 27.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that the Jammu sessions court was adequately equipped with video conferencing facilities, ensuring seamless virtual examination.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought the transfer of trial proceedings in two high-profile 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, informed the court that, per the registrar general of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s report, the video conferencing infrastructure at the Jammu court was fully operational.

Mehta further contended that Malik, along with co-accused individuals, was deliberately orchestrating procedural delays. He pointed out that Malik had refused legal representation while other accused were resisting the transfer of trial.

Previously, the Supreme Court had directed the registrar general of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to ensure that the Jammu special court was sufficiently equipped for virtual proceedings in both cases involving Malik. On December 18, 2024, the apex court granted 6 accused individuals a two-week window to respond to the CBI’s request for trial relocation.

The CBI’s plea pertains to two cases: 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 matters.

Court is currently adjudicating the CBI’s challenge to a Jammu trial court’s September 20, 2022, order, which had mandated Malik’s physical production in court to cross-examine prosecution witnesses in the abduction case.

The CBI has strongly opposed Malik’s physical presence in court, arguing that he constitutes a significant threat to national security and should not be transported outside Tihar Jail. Rubaiya Sayeed, who was released five days after her abduction following the then BJP-backed V.P. Singh government’s controversial decision to free five terrorists in exchange, is a key prosecution witness in the CBI’s case. The investigative agency formally took over the probe in the early 1990s.

Malik has been confined to Tihar Jail since May 2023, following his sentencing by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in a terror-funding case.

Court’s decision on the CBI’s plea will have critical implications for the legal proceedings against Malik and other accused individuals in these historically significant cases.

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