‘Even Ajmal Kasab was given a fair trial’, says SC in Yasin Malik case
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday remarked that “even Ajmal Kasab was given a fair trial” as it deliberated on setting up a courtroom inside Tihar Jail for the trial of Jammu & Kashmir separatist leader Yasin Malik in a kidnapping case.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih was hearing a CBI plea against a September 2022 Jammu trial court order directing Malik, serving a life term in Tihar Jail, to be physically produced to cross-examine prosecution witnesses in the 1989 abduction case of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former politician Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, raised security concerns over transferring Malik to Jammu. He alleged Malik was “playing tricks” by refusing to engage a lawyer and demanding personal appearances. Mehta also presented a photograph purportedly showing Malik with terrorist Hafiz Saeed to underscore the security risks.
The bench expressed concerns over conducting cross-examinations online due to poor internet connectivity in Jammu. The bench remarked, “How will cross-examination be done online? There is hardly any connectivity in Jammu... In our country, a fair trial was given even to Ajmal Kasab and legal assistance was given to him in the high court.”
It proposed alternatives, such as holding the trial inside Tihar Jail or asking the judge to travel to Delhi. The court noted all accused in the case must be heard before any final decision and directed the CBI to amend its petition to include all accused as respondents.
Malik’s previous appearance in the Supreme Court without its explicit permission had sparked controversy. In 2023, Mehta flagged a security lapse when Malik was brought to court under high-security escort. He cited Section 268 of the CrPC, which allows state governments to restrict certain individuals from being transported outside prison.
The kidnapping case dates back to December 8, 1989, when Rubaiya was abducted in Srinagar and released five days later after the then BJP-supported V P Singh government exchanged her for five jailed militants. The CBI took over the case in the early 1990s, and Rubaiya, now residing in Tamil Nadu, is a prosecution witness. Malik, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader, is serving a life sentence after being convicted in a terror-funding case by a special NIA court in May 2023. The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing for November 28.
