Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohammad Yasin Malik on Tuesday pleaded guilty to all charges in a case related to terror funding and secessionist activities in the Kashmir Valley in 2017.
On March 16, the court charged Malik and others under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code such as criminal conspiracy, waging war against the country, and unlawful activities and terrorism, in the case filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Malik pleaded guilty to the charges under sections 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act), and 20 (being member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the IPC.
The maximum punishment for these offences is life imprisonment.
Speaking to HT, advocate Akhand Pratap Singh, who was appointed as an amicus for Malik since he did not have a lawyer, said the JKLF leader, who was present in the court, did not contest the charges and pleaded guilty.
A detailed order is yet to be uploaded on the court’s website. On May 19, the court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentence for Malik.
{{/usCountry}}A detailed order is yet to be uploaded on the court’s website. On May 19, the court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentence for Malik.
{{/usCountry}}According to NIA, various terrorist organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba , Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), JKLF, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) among others, with the support of the Inter-services Intelligence of Pakistan, perpetrated violence in the Valley by attacking civilians and security forces. It further alleged that in 1993, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference was formed to give a political front to secessionist activities.
In a charge sheet submitted before the court in 2018, the NIA contended that the central government received credible information that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the Amir of Jamat-ud-Da’wa and other secessionist and separatist leaders, including members of the Hurriyat Conference, have been acting in connivance with active militants of HM and LeT for raising, to receive and collect funds through various illegal channels, including hawala.
The NIA also alleged that this was done for funding separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and as such, they have entered into a larger conspiracy for causing disruption in the Valley by way of pelting stones at security forces, systematically burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India.
On Tuesday, special judge Praveen Singh formally framed charges against separatist leaders Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, Mohammad Yusuf Shah, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, Mohammad Akbar Khanday, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, and Naval Kishore Kapoor.
On March 16, while framing the charges, the court said that prima facie there existed a criminal conspiracy pursuant to which large-scale protests, resulting in violence and arson were orchestrated. It further said that Malik had set up an elaborate structure and mechanism across the world to raise funds for carrying out terrorist and other unlawful activities in Jammu and Kashmir in the name of “freedom struggle”.
The court has said that after discussion of evidence, prima facie, it is established that Shabir Shah, Yasin Malik, Rashid Engineer, Altaf Fantoosh, Masarat Alam, the Hurriyat Conference and Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) were the direct recipients of terror funds.