Jammu & Kashmir

Delhi HC hearing NIA’s plea seeking death penalty for Yasin Malik

Muhammad Yasin Malik, [File Photo]

New Delhi: Delhi High Court is hearing National Investigation Agency’s plea seeking death penalty for Kashmiri Hurriyat leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Mohammad Yasin Malik.

This move comes after the NIA attempt to secure a death penalty for Malik, who had initially been handed a life imprisonment sentence by a trial court.

Earlier, the petition was listed for hearing today (May 29) before a Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh.

Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special NIA court in a militancy funding case in May 2022.

The NIA had demanded capital punishment for Malik before the trial court as well.

However, the prayer was refused by the special court stating that death penalty should be awarded only in exceptional cases “where the crime by its nature shocks the collective consciousness of the society”.

Malik was convicted of offences under Section 120B, 121, 121A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 13 and 15 of UAPA read with 120B of the IPC besides Sections 17, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of UAPA.

In a detailed judgement, the NIA Court had observed that “Malik betrayed the good intentions of the government of India by choosing the violent path.”

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