Supreme Court shocked as JKLF leader Yasin Malik appears before it

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 21

The Supreme Court was on Friday shocked to see Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik appear before it as there was no order passed by it seeking his appearance in person.

A Jammu Special Court had in September last year sought Malik’s appearance for cross-examination of witnesses in the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed. The Supreme Court had in April stayed the orders requiring his physical presence. He is also accused of killing four IAF personnel.

Serving a life term in Tihar Jail following his conviction in a terror-funding case, Malik was to be presented before the top court for a hearing on the CBI’s plea against the Jammu court order.

As a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta expressed surprise over Malik’s physical appearance, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said there was no such order passed by the top court.

Justice Datta chose to recuse from hearing the matter.

Later, the Solicitor General wrote to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla highlighting the “serious security lapse”.

“It is my firm view that this is a serious security lapse. A person with terrorist and secessionist background like Yasin Malik who is not only a convict in a terror-funding case but has known connections with terror organisations in Pakistan could have escaped, could have been forcibly taken away or could have been killed,” Mehta wrote.

Even the Supreme Court’s security would have been put to a serious risk if any untoward incident were to happen, he said, adding, there was an MHA order with regard to Malik under Section 268 of the Criminal Procedure Code which prevented jail authorities from bringing the said convict out of jail premises for security reasons.

“In any view of the matter so long as the order under Section 268 of CrP Code subsists, jail authorities had no power to bring him out of jail premises nor did they have any reason to do so…I consider this to be a matter serious enough to once again bring it to your personal notice so that suitable action/steps can be taken at your end,” Mehta wrote.

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