The Supreme Court on Friday was stunned to see Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, who is undergoing life sentence in a terror funding case, before it as he appeared for an appeal filed by the CBI against a special Jammu court order calling for his physical appearance for trial in kidnapping and murder cases against him.
A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Surya Kant recused itself from hearing the case and deferred it by four weeks.
Apparently, Malik had intimated the jail authorities that he wanted to appear in the matter before the apex court.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta took issue with Malik's appearance before the top court, saying that the procedure is that the Registrar of the court needs to approve of such appearances.
He expressed sharp disapproval to the jail officials present in the court for allowing Malik, and apprised the bench that he cannot be brought out of jail since Section 268 of the Criminal Procedure Code applies to him.
The SG added that the Central government will be taking necessary steps to ensure that Malik is not let out of jail again, and said that it is a heavy security issue.
Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, who appeared for the CBI, said that Malik was brought out of jail callously by the jail authorities upon misinterpretation of the top court's order. He also wrote to Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla stating that Yasin Malik's presence in Supreme Court Of India today was a matter of grave security lapse since he could have escaped or could have been killed.
"Today i.e on 21/07/2023, Yasin Malik was produced physically in the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter SLP No. 5526-5527/2022 Titled CBI Vs. Yasin Malik, by the officials of Central Jail no. 7 (Tihar) and prima facie observed that it was lapse on the part of concerned Jail officials. D.G (Prisons) has ordered a detailed inquiry in the matter to be conducted by Dy. Inspector General(Hqtr) (Prisons) Shri Rajiv Singh to fix the responsibility of erring officials. Report to be submitted within three days to DG Prisons," Tihar's official statement read.
The Jammu special court had sought Malik's appearance for cross-examination of witnesses in two cases - the killing of four IAF personnel and the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then J&K Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in 1989.
The apex court had issued notice in the matter in April and had stayed the orders directing Malik's physical presence.
(With inputs from IANS)
