J&K: Yasin Malik wants to fight his own case, declines legal support

Muhammad Yasin Malik, chief of the now-banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), on Sunday appeared through video conference in front of a special court in Jammu in connection with twin cases from 1990s. Malik pleaded to court that he would like to cross-examine the witnesses himself without taking assistance from any lawyer.

New Delhi: Muhammad Yasin Malik, chief of the now-banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), on Sunday appeared through video conference in front of a special court in Jammu in connection with twin cases from 1990s. Malik pleaded to court that he would like to cross-examine the witnesses himself without taking assistance from any lawyer.

On Saturday, the Special Court in Jammu started cross-examination of witnesses in the three-decade-old cases of killing of four Indian Air Force personnel and the abduction of then Indian Home Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s daughter Dr Rubaiya Sayeed.

Among over a dozen accused only one accused and a witness were present while the Court deferred the cross-examination process when the lawyers of the accused cited the disturbances in Kashmir as a reason for the absence of their clients.

Malik, an accused in both cases, appeared through video conference. Other people supposed to appear for the cross-examination included Abdul Rehman Sofi, a prosecution witness in both cases, and Saleem alias Nanaji, who is an accused in the IAF killing case.

Sources said that Malik, who is currently in Tihar Jail, pleaded that he would like to cross-examine the witnesses himself and would not take any help from any lawyer.

S K Bhat, Special Public Prosecutor and former Legal Advisor, CBI was the chief prosecutor and led the chief examination on behalf of the agency and Monica Kohli was Special Public Prosecutor in the case.

Pertinently, four IAF personnel, including a squadron leader, Ravi Khanna, were killed in an alleged militant attack on January 25, 1990, in the Rawalpora area of Srinagar outskirts. Another case is related to the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed.

The charges were framed against Malik and six others on March 16, 2020, in the killing of four IAF personnel on the outskirts of Srinagar on January 25, 1990. The accused in the case include Ali Mohammed Mir, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi alias ‘Mustafa’, Javed Ahmed Mir, Showkat Ahmed Bakshi, Javed Ahmed Zargar and Nanaji.