NIA court to decide Yasin Malik's fate today

A Special NIA Court in Delhi Thursday will hear the arguments on the quantum of punishment against Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik on all charges, including UAPA in connection with a terror case.

He has been charged for hatching a criminal conspiracy, waging war against the country, other unlawful activities and disturbing peace in Kashmir.

Malik had pleaded guilty in the matter. On the last date of hearing, he told before the court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him, including section 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act), and 20 (being member of a terrorist gang or organisation) of the UAPA and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.

Special Judge Praveen Singh had then fixed the matter for May 19 to hear the arguments regarding the quantum of sentence for the offences levelled against Malik in which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment.

Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, former MLA Rashid Engineer, businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Bitta Karate, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Avatar Ahmad Shah, Naeem Khan, Bashir Ahmed Bhat, alias Peer Saifullah and several others have also been framed under the charges for criminal conspiracy, waging war against the country and other unlawful activities.

In the order dated March 16, the NIA special Judge Praveen Singh had said: "The above analysis reflects that the statements of witnesses and documentary evidence have connected almost all the accused with each other and to a common object of secession, to the commonality of means they were to use, their close association to terrorist/terrorist organisations under the guiding hand and funding of Pakistani establishment."

Notably, the court has discharged three, namely Kamran Yusuf, Javed Ahmad Bhatt and Syedah Aasiya Firdous Andrabi.

The case related to the various terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM), Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) backed by Islamic State were perpetrating the terrorist and secessionist activities to disturb Jammu and Kashmir.