Separatist leader Mohammad Yasin Malik pleaded guilty to all the charges, including those under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), before a Delhi court on Tuesday, 10 May. The case pertained to alleged terrorism and secessionist activities in the Kashmir valley in 2017, court sources informed, according to PTI.
They informed that Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Malik told the court that he would not be contesting the charges levelled against him.
The charges against Malik included Section 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act), and 20 (being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation) of the UAPA and Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.
Special Judge Praveen Singh will now hear the arguments regarding the quantum of the sentence for the charges against Malik on 19 May. The maximum punishment he could receive is life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, the court also formally framed the charges against other Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, Md Yusuf Shah, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, Md Akbar Khanday, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, and Naval Kishore Kapoor.
Charge sheets were also filed against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. The two have been declared proclaimed offenders (PO) in the case.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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