Bitta Karate’s case adjourned
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, May 10: Separatist leader Mohammad Yasin Malik today pleaded guilty to all the charges, including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), before a Delhi court in a case related to alleged terrorism and secessionist activities that disturbed the Kashmir valley in 2017, court sources said.
They said Malik told the court that he was not contesting the charges levelled against him including section 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 UAPA and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.
Special Judge Praveen Singh will hear on May 19 the arguments regarding the quantum of sentence for the offences levelled against Malik in which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment.
The court, meanwhile, 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.
The charge sheet was also filed against Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, who have been declared proclaimed offenders (PO) in the case.
Meanwhile, a local court today adjourned the hearing of a case in which Bitta Karate is accused of murdering a Kashmiri Pandit after the counsel for the latter claimed that police failed to provide him security.
The case was listed today for hearing but as Satish Tickoo’s counsel Utsav Bain was not present, the Judge bypassed the case.
Bains had moved an application seeking adjournment of hearing today citing security issues. The next date fixed for hearing now is May 23.
Of the three hearing dates, Bains has appeared in the first hearing when the Judge had asked the rival counsels to prepare formal documents to contest in the court.
The trial proceedings against Karate had begun 31 years after a similar plea was filed by the family of Satish Tickoo.
Advocate Bains had filed the application on behalf of the family in Srinagar’s district court for status reports of all the FIRs registered against Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate – who has already been bailed out by the Supreme Court of India.
Bains claimed he left for Delhi from Srinagar Airport after he was not provided security. However, IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said he was told security was in place for him.
“I have enquired from SSP security. As per him, BP vehicle, PSO and escort waited at airport since 8 am,” Kumar said.
However, communication from Bains claimed despite Supreme Court orders, no security was provided and he had to return to Delhi after landing at the Srinagar Airport at 9 am.
“It is requested to your lordship to please adjourn today’s hearing in Criminal Revision No 138 of 2022 in the interest of justice,” read the letter.
The Supreme Court, on July 24, 2017, had dismissed a plea filed by the Kashmiri Pandit NGO ‘Roots in Kashmir’ saying it is difficult to hold any probe and collect evidence on incidents that are more than 27 years old after the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from Valley. A review petition filed in the court of then Chief Justice of India Dr DY Chandrachud dismissed a review petition on October 10 of the same year.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
