Plea seeking death for Malik not pressing
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 additional weeks 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....
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