New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from jailed Kashmir separatist Yasin Malik on a plea from the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking transfer of the trial in connection with the killing of four IAF personnel and the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in 1989, to Tihar jail in Delhi.
Malik is serving a life sentence after being convicted in a terror funding case. In the previous hearing, the apex court had said that the accused are entitled to a fair trial and pointed out that even Ajmal Kasab, the Mumbai terror attack accused, was given a fair trial.
On Thursday, the matter came up before a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, contended before the bench that the applications have been filed for shifting the trial to Tihar jail in Delhi and also to implead the co-accused in the matter.
Mehta informed the bench that Tihar jail, where Malik is lodged right now, has a functional court facility. The bench sought a response from Malik and scheduled the matter for further hearing on December 18.
Last week, the apex court had asked the CBI to examine the possibility of setting up a court in jail, which would allow Malik to cross-examine witnesses in the case against him. The central agency had strongly opposed the possibility of taking Malik to Jammu and Kashmir.
The CBI had moved the apex court against order passed by the special court, Jammu, which issued a production warrant for the physical appearance of Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik for cross-examination.
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