The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday asked the Delhi High Court for in-camera proceedings in its plea seeking death penalty for Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik. .In-camera hearing of a case means a closed hearing which is not accessible to the public. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Akshai Malik appeared for NIA and asked the Court to provide/ enable a virtual court link for the proceedings, which is not public. A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain said that it will consider the request. Meanwhile, Yasin Malik joined the proceedings from Tihar Jail via video conference and said that for three years, he has been under psychological torture about whether he would be given a death sentence or not."Teen saal ho gaye is appeal ko aur meri affidavit ko bhi teen maheene hog gaye. Ek shaksh ko psychologic torture m rakhna ki faansi hai ya nahi... (It's been three years since the appeal was filed [by the NIA] and it's three months since I filed my affidavit. Keeping person in pyschological torture about whether he will be hanged or not...)," he said. The Court said that it will hear the arguments in the case on January 28. .The High Court was hearing the appeal filed by the NIA seeking death penalty for Malik for his role in funding terror in Kashmir. The agency has challenged the trial court order awarding him a life sentence in the case, According to NIA, Malik was the mastermind of terror activities in the Kashmir valley. The NIA had demanded capital punishment for Malik before the trial court as well. However, the prayer was refused by the trial court judge stating that death penalty should be awarded only in exceptional cases "where the crime by its nature shocks the collective consciousness of the society".In his reply in the case, Malik has claimed that after his arrest in 1990, he was actively engaged by six consecutive governments headed by VP Singh to Manmohan Singh, to speak about the Kashmir cause and resolve the issue. Malik further told the Delhi High Court that he met Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed and other militants in 2006 at the request of then Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director VK Joshi. “I was specifically requested for this meeting with Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders of Pakistan on the pretext that militancy and peace dialogues cannot go in tandem, given the bomb blast which happened in the National Capital,” he said.He added that after returning to India from this meeting, he met with PM Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor NK Narayanan and briefed them about it. .The NIA was represented by SPP Akshai Malik and advocate Khawar Saleem. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
