Supreme Court Allows Yasin Malik to Cross-Examine Witnesses via Video

The Supreme Court has permitted jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik to cross-examine witnesses via video conferencing from Tihar Jail in two cases related to the 1989 abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed and a 1990 Srinagar shootout. Malik, sentenced for terror-funding in 2023, refuses legal representation.

The Supreme Court has granted permission for Yasin Malik, the incarcerated chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), to cross-examine witnesses through video conferencing from Tihar Jail. This decision pertains to two significant cases—the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed and the 1990 Srinagar shootout.

These cases emerged from a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking the transfer of the trials from Jammu to New Delhi. The plea involved the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of former union minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, and the killing of four Indian Air Force personnel on January 25, 1990.

The Supreme Court's bench, comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, reviewed the facilities available for video conferencing at Tihar Jail and in Jammu. The court determined that Jammu's sessions court was adequately equipped for virtual examinations. Meanwhile, Malik, serving a sentence for terror-funding, has chosen not to engage a lawyer for the cross-examination.

(With inputs from agencies.)