NIA had urged for awarding the death penalty to the JKLF leader under section 121 of the Indian Penal Code
Yasin Malik, the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and a Kashmiri separatist, was sentenced to life in jail by a Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday after being convicted in a terror funding case on May 19.
Malik was taken to Patiala House Court in New Delhi amid tight security in the morning, and after hearing the arguments, Special NIA Judge Parveen Singh sentenced Malik to life in prison and a fine of Rs. 10,000.
NIA had urged for awarding the death penalty
Before the court delayed the judgement on Malik’s punishment by a few hours, the NIA had urged for awarding the death penalty to the JKLF leader under section 121 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Yasin Malik said before his imprisonment that since relinquishing his arms in 1994, he had been following Mahatma Gandhi’s principles.
The court had previously set May 25 for a decision on Malik’s sentence after hearing arguments and considering the charges levelled against him.
Malik pleaded guilty in a previous hearing
Malik had pleaded guilty in his previous hearing and had also barred his lawyer from representing him in court. The NIA court found him guilty under numerous sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as ‘criminal’ conspiracy.
Earlier, when the court had chosen to sentence Malik, his wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick and their 10-year-old daughter appealed to have him released.
Meanwhile, while the punishment was pending, a small group of demonstrators gathered outside Malik’s home in Srinagar’s Maisuma, resorting to stone-pelting, which was effectively controlled by the deployed security forces.
