New Delhi, Jan. 29 -- There is no urgency in hearing the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) petition seeking death penalty for JKLF chief and Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik in a terror funding case, as he is already serving life sentence and the plea seeks only enhancement of punishment, the Delhi High Court said on Wednesday, granting four more weeks to the agency to file a rejoinder. The rejoinder is a document which is filed by a petitioner in response to the reply filed by the respondent in a petition. A bench of justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja granted additional time after NIA's counsel, Akshai Malik and Khawar Saleem, requested the court for the same. Malik submitted that Yasin filed a 70-page reply in September to the agency's 2023 petition covering various aspects, and the agency required more time to respond. However, Yasin, appearing virtually, opposed the request, asserting that the agency had sought additional time even at the last hearing on November 10 to file its reply. He added that he has been in limbo over the death penalty for the past three years, which he said amounted to trauma. NIA's counsel opposed the contention, stating that Yasin took a year to file his response and that the agency was seeking only two to three weeks to submit its reply, as the rejoinder is being vetted. Considering the contention, the court granted four weeks additional time to NIA as a last opportunity, adding that there was no urgency in hearing the agency's petition. The court fixed April 22 as the next date of hearing. On May 24, 2022, a trial court awarded life imprisonment to Yasin after holding him guilty of various offences under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was convicted after pleading guilty to charges related to terror funding, spreading terrorism and secessionist activities in Kashmir in 2017. The life term was awarded for two offences -- section 121 (waging war against the government of India) of the IPC and section 17 (raising funds for a terrorist act) of the UAPA. Under section 121 (waging war against the State) of the IPC, the minimum punishment is life imprisonment while the maximum is death. Even though Yasin was convicted for waging war against the State, the court at the time of his conviction noted that this case does not fall under the category of "rarest of rare crime", warranting the death penalty....