Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India (SGI), told the Supreme Court on Thursday that a fully functional court with video conferencing facilities exists in Tihar jail for the trial of JKLF leader, Yasin Malik.
The submission by the SGI came after the top court on November 21 suggested that the possibility of a makeshift courtroom in Tihar Jail for conducting the trial of Yasin Malik should be explored.
Yasin Malik is being tried for two cases related to abduction and murder.
Tushar Mehta on Thursday informed the bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih that a fully functional court exists in the jail with all the facilities of video conferencing if required and in the past proceedings have taken place there.
Tushar Mehta also apprised the top court that it has filed two fresh applications, one for the modification and the other for the transfer of the matter.
The Supreme Court issued notice to the respondents on the applications and also made the other co-accused party in the case. The top court listed the matter in December for further hearing.
The court observation came when it was hearing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea against the Jammu court’s order calling for Yasin Malik’s physical presence in trial proceedings.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said that the central agency does not wish to take Yasin Malik, who is at present at Tihar Jail in Delhi, to Jammu and Kashmir due to security reasons. He also presented a photograph where Yasin Malik was seen sharing dias with Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit, and said he is not an ordinary criminal.
The Supreme Court had permitted the CBI to implead all the accused in the case as respondents in the petition and posted the matter for hearing next week. CBI has filed an appeal against the order of Additional Sessions Judge Jammu (TADA/POTA) dated September 20 and September 21, issuing a production warrant against him in two different cases.
Jammu Court has sought Yasin Malik’s physical appearance for cross-examination of witnesses in relation to the killing of four IAF personnel in 1990 and the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in 1989. However, the Supreme Court in the last hearing stayed Jammu’s court order.
in 2023, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta expressed his concern over Yasin Malik’s presence in the Supreme Court and wrote a letter to the Home Secretary stating that Yasin Malik’s presence in the court was a serious security lapse raising apprehension that he could have escaped, forcibly taken away or could have been killed.
It was mentioned that an order passed by the Ministry of Home Affairs with regard to the said Yasin Malik under section 268 Criminal Code of Procedure prevents the jail authorities from bringing the said convict out of the jail premises for security reasons.
Yasin Malik is already serving a life sentence in another terror-related case wherein he had confessed his guilt.
