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Yasin Malik is well aware of Indian laws: Lawyer
Yasin Malik was not legally represented in the court and had argued his case himself, after which, on April 18, the court had appointed advocate Singh as an amicus to explain the legal repercussions of pleading guilty.
JKLF chief Yasin Malik, who was on Wednesday handed life imprisonment for his role in terror funding and secessionist activities in Kashmir Valley in 2017, has sound knowledge of Indian laws and was very calm and composed during all his meeting, court-appointed lawyer Akhand Pratap Singh said.
Malik was not legally represented in the court and had argued his case himself, after which, on April 18, the court had appointed advocate Singh as an amicus to explain the legal repercussions of pleading guilty. On May 10, Malik had pleaded guilty to offences of terror funding and waging war against the state among other charges.
Speaking to HT after the court verdict, Singh said he had two meetings with Malik in Tihar jail after he was appointed as the amicus in the matter. The interaction was very cordial and he was “well aware” about the laws and punishment, Singh said.
“He was cool, calm, composed and well-understood. I spoke to him after the sentencing. He was quite convinced and agreed to the sentencing. However, I can’t comment on the aspect of appeal against the sentence, as it has to be decided by Malik himself,” he told HT, while not divulging any further details on his meetings due to client-attorney privilege.
On May 19, while convicting Malik, the court had sought information on his financial status, conduct report from jail and other socio-economic conditions.
The jail authorities informed the court that Malik’s conduct has been “satisfactory” and no punishment has been recorded against him.
On the convict’s inclination towards reformation, prison authorities said that during his incarceration, behaviour of convict towards co-inmates as well as jail administration has remained cordial and peaceful. Convict seems to be inclined towards reformation, they said.
The NIA had told the court that Malik owns a three storey residential house at Maisuma Lal Chowk, Srinagar where his mother and divorced sister and her two sons, used to reside.
With regard to the social status, the NIA told the court that Malik was acting as JKLF chairman and was an influential person, adding that he had a number of supporters within his locality before JKLF was declared a banned organisation.
Malik’s family consists of 11 members – his mother, wife, three sisters, one daughter, two nephews and three maternal uncles.
