Jammu, October 2: The head of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) outfit Yasin Malik would appear before the Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activity (TADA) court through video-conferencing as the Tihar jail authorities have refused to present Malik in person due to instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The TADA court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing till October 23 against Malik in connection with the killing of four Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel.Malik, who has been arrested in a terror funding case by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, would be produced in the special TADA court through video-conferencing.
“Following instructions from the Union Home Ministry the TADA Court has allowed Malik to appear through video conferencing,” special public prosecutor CBI Paviteer Singh Bhardwaj told media, adding, “Now hearing will start on October 23.”
He hoped that the cases against Malik would now be taken to their logical conclusion after allowing him to appear through video-conferencing. “It is a fool-proof case. The accused used delaying tactics to stall the trial in the last 29 years,” he said and expressed surprise that trial against Malik and other accused was stayed for 10 long years.
“As Malik was directed to present himself before the court on Tuesday, the TADA court adjourned the hearing till October 23 following the MHA’s instructions to the jail authorities,” he said.
Although Malik has been arrested in a terror-funding case, he is currently under trial for the killing of four IAF personnel and the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of then Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in 1989.
After three decades, the trial in both cases was resumed on September 11 this year and the court had directed Malik and three others to appear in person on October 1.
On January 25, 1990, four IAF employees including Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna, were killed by terrorists of the JKLF.
Malik was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before the TADA court in Jammu on August 31, 1990, in connection with the case.
