NIA Moves Delhi HC Seeking Death Sentence For Kashmiri Separatist Yasin Malik

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a petition before the Delhi High Court to request the imposition of a death sentence for Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik.

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

The plea by the NIA is set to be heard by a bench comprising Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh on Monday – 29th of May.

In May 2022, Malik, the head of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was found guilty in a terror funding case under the relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi Court.

Among the other individuals charged in the case were Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Salahuddin (the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen), Rashid Engineer, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, and Farooq Ahmad Dar.

The case pertains to acts of terrorism and secessionist activities that disrupted the Kashmir Valley in 2017. Malik was arrested by the NIA in 2019 in connection with this case.