SRINAGAR: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice on a plea moved by the National Investigation Agency of India seeking the death penalty for Kashmiri Hurriyat leader Mohammad Yasin Malik.
The court issued notice to Malik through the concerned Tihar Jail Superintendent and listed the matter for hearing on August 9.
During the hearing, the bench had an interesting exchange with Mehta when the solicitor general remarked, “If Osama Bin Laden was tried here, he would have been permitted to plead guilty.”
Justice Mridul replied that Yasin’s case was different as bin Laden had never faced trial anywhere. “We can’t compare this gentleman to Osama Bin Laden because he nowhere stood trial.”
Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special NIA court in May last year. He had pleaded guilty in the case and did not contest to the charges against him.
While awarding him life sentence, Special Judge Praveen Singh had observed that the crime failed the test of rarest of rare case as held by the Apex Court.
The judge had also rejected Malik’s submission that he had followed Gandhian principle of non violence and was spearheading a peaceful non violent struggle.
