The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the plea of Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, Kashmir’s longest serving prisoner to reconsider his conviction. Faktoo is a Kashmiri separatist leader and a former member of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and has been awarded life imprisonment for killing human rights activist H N Wanchoo.
Although Faktoo had denied the charges that were imposed on him and said that he was he was being targeted because of his political beliefs, the court still sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Faktoo has been in the Srinagar jail since 1993 and has served his sentence for more than 20 years. A Jammu court had acquitted him in 2001, but the Supreme Court overturned this verdict and held him guilty. After that too, he convinced the Supreme Court to reconsider his conviction and life imprisonment.
The court turned down his petition straightaway saying that SC judgment could not be challenged by a writ petition. The bench then converted the writ petition to a review petition, which was heard in the open court.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which treated the writ petition of Faktoo as a review plea, said the “comprehension” of the accused that the earlier judgement was “erroneous” would not enable the court to “reopen” the entire case.
Who Is Faktoo?
Ashiq Hussain Faktoo is the husband of Asiya Andrabi, who is also a separatist leader and chairperson of Islamist organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat.
Faktoo is the only Kashmiri militant who has completed his PhD in detention. University of Kashmir awarded him degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Islamic Studies.
Being in the Srinagar jail since 22 years, he is fighting for his fate to be changed. Mian Abdul Qayoom who appeared for Faktoo argued on his behalf that according Section 57 of Ranbir Penal Code (criminal code applicable in Jammu and Kashmir), life imprisonment means imprisonment for 20 years.
But this argument is devoid of any force. The object of said section relates as to how to calculate the fractions of terms of punishment and provides that imprisonment for life shall be reckoned as equivalent to imprisonment for 20 years, when punishment is to be awarded to a co-accused, who is also involved in the same offence, either by abetment, conspiracy or attempt, in which the main accused is awarded the sentence of imprisonment for life.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and Kashmir Life)
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