Delhi HC judge recuses from Yasin Malik death penalty case
New Delhi: Delhi High Court judge Amit Sharma has recused himself from hearing a plea by India’s notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking the death penalty for JKLF chief Yasin Malik in a fake case.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the matter was scheduled for today before a division bench headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh following a change in the roster of judges handling such cases. “List before another bench, of which Justice Sharma is not a member, on August 9,” Justice Singh announced.
Yasin Malik was arrested by Indian authorities from his residence in Srinagar in 2019. Currently serving a life term in the case pronounced by a trial court in May 2022, the JKLF chief attended the today’s court proceedings virtually from the Tihar jail in Delhi. The court directed that he continue to appear virtually on the next date as well.
Last year on May 29, the high court had issued a notice to Yasin Malik on the NIA’s plea seeking death penalty for him in the case, and had sought his presence in court for the subsequent hearing.
Subsequently, jail authorities had filed an application seeking permission for his virtual appearance on the grounds that he was a “very high-risk prisoner” and it was imperative to not physically produce him in court. The high court granted the request.
