The Supreme Court said Friday former Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik can cross-examine witnesses in the cases related to the assassination of four Indian Air Force officials, and the kidnapping of Rubayya Sayid in 1989, from the Tihar Jail where he is currently lodged instead of travelling to Jammu for the trial.
The top court was hearing a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the trial court’s order directing Malik’s presence to face trial in the two cases. The probe agency had opposed this, saying taking Malik out of Tihar Jail was fraught with danger, and would also put in question the safety of the witnesses.
A bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that in December 2024, the Centre had issued an order under Section 303 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act restricting his movement out of Delhi for a year.
Setting aside the trial court order, the court held that physically producing him before the Jammu court would not be appropriate.
Malik, who appeared before the bench virtually from Tihar Jail Friday, said he was only a “political leader” and not a “dreaded terrorist” as was being claimed by CBI. “CBI’s objection is that I am a security threat. I am responding to that. There is not a single FIR against me and my organisation supporting or providing any kind of hideout to any militant. There are FIRs against me, but they are all related to my non-violent political protests,” he said.
However, the court said it was not dealing with the merits of the case against him but was only considering the question of whether he should be allowed to cross-examine witnesses through video conferencing. “We are not deciding whether you are a terrorist or a political leader. The only issue is whether you should be permitted to cross-examine the witnesses by video conference,” said Justice Oka.
The bench pointed out that BNSS Section 530 allows the use of VC facilities for the examination of the witnesses.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Source link
[ad_3]
[ad_4]