Jammu Tawi, Nov 23: A special court here on Wednesday issued a fresh production warrant for physical appearance
of jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik for cross-examination of witnesses in a case related to the gunning down of IAF
personnel by terrorists in 1990.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the court that it has already challenged the order before the
Supreme Court.
The agency's senior special prosecutor Monika Kohli said the much publicised case came up for hearing, with the
Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief appearing through video-conferencing from Tihar jail and the other
accused being present in the court.
She said the CBI has already challenged the order for physical appearance of Malik before the Supreme Court as
there is a direction from the Home Ministry because of another case pending against him.
“Since he has moved an application seeking his physical appearance, the court issued a fresh production warrant to
facilitate cross-examination of witnesses by him,” she said.
On September 21, the court conceded Malik's demand for the first time for physical appearance to cross examine
the witnesses in the abduction case of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed, by his group in 1989.
The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court has already framed charges separately
against the JKLF chief and several others in the two cases.
While the charges were framed against Malik and six others on March 16 last year in the killing of four IAF personnel
in 1990 on the outskirts of Srinagar, charges against Malik and nine others in the 1989 abduction case of Rubaiya
were framed on January 11 this year.
Malik is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in April
2019 in connection with a terror funding case, a month after his group was banned by the central government.
(Agencies)
