New Delhi : The Supreme Court suggested on Thursday to explore setting up a makeshift courtroom in jail for conducting a trial against terror convict, Yasin Malik in two cases related to abduction and murder.
The court also remarked that Ajmal Kasab was given an opportunity for fair trial. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih suggested that a courtroom could be set up at the jail to conduct cross-examination of the witnesses in the case and said that a fair trial was given even to Ajmal Kasab in the country.
The top court also sought to know how many witnesses were in the case and the need for security arrangements for those witnesses. The court observation came when it was hearing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea against the Jammu court's order calling for Malik's physical presence in trial proceedings.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the central agency does not wish to take Malik, who is at present at Tihar Jail in Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir due to security reasons. He also presented a photograph where Malik was seen sharing dias with Hafiz Saeed and said he is not an ordinary criminal.
The top court permitted the CBI to implead all the accused in the case as respondents in the petition and posted the matter for hearing next week. CBI has filed an appeal against the order of Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu(TADA/POTA) dated September 20 and September 21 issuing a production warrant against him in two different cases.
Jammu Court has sought Malik's physical appearance for cross-examination of witnesses in relation to the killing of four IAF personnel and abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in 1989. However, the top court in the last hearing stayed Jammu's court order.
Earlier Solicitor General Tushar Mehta expressed his concern over Yasin Malik's presence in the Supreme Court and wrote a letter to the Home Secretary stating that Yasin Malik's presence in the Supreme Court was a serious security lapse raising apprehension that he could have escaped, forcibly taken away or could have been killed.
In the letter, it was mentioned an order passed by the Ministry of Home Affairs about Yasin Malik under section 268 Criminal Code of Procedure which prevents the jail authorities from bringing the said convict out of the jail premises for security reasons.