NIA asks death penalty for separatist Yasin Malik, Delhi court decision due today
25 May, 2022 | Riya Girdhar
Terror funding case: The court's decision on the length of Malik's sentence is expected later in the day.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought the death penalty for convicted Kashmiri separatist and banned Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik in a terror funding case on Wednesday, according to news agency PTI. Malik was convicted last week by a Delhi court after pleading guilty in 2017 to charges of terror funding, spreading terrorism, and secessionist activities in Kashmir.
The submission was made before special judge Praveen Singh, while the amicus curiae appointed by the court to assist Malik sought life imprisonment – the minimum penalty in the case.
The court’s decision on the length of Malik’s sentence is expected later in the day.
Malik had told the court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him, which included UAPA sections 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act), and 20 (being a member of terrorist gang or organisation) and IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition).
A spontaneous shutdown has taken place in parts of Srinagar ahead of the verdict. According to sources, security forces have also been deployed in the city to prevent any law and order issues.
According to sources, most shops and business establishments in Maisuma and surrounding areas, including some in Lal Chowk, were closed.
Shops in some areas of the old city were also closed, but public transportation was operating normally, they added.