Yasin Malik Declines to Contest Sarla Bhat Murder Trial, Seeks Capital Punishment

SRINAGAR, Sep 3: Jailed Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has decided not to contest the trial proceedings in the 1990 murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat and has instead urged the court to award him capital punishment, according to reports.

Malik submitted a 25-page statement before the Additional Sessions Judge (TADA/POTA) and Special Judge designated under the NIA Act in Srinagar through his counsel, Advocate Abu Adil Pandit. The matter has been listed for the prosecution’s reply on September 19.

While maintaining that he has been falsely implicated, Malik said he arrived at the decision after “deep reflection” and “Istikhara”, a voluntary prayer seeking divine guidance. He clarified that his decision should not be construed as an admission of guilt or acceptance of the allegations against him, while requesting the court to impose capital punishment.

The development follows the filing of a 737-page charge sheet by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) in June in connection with the abduction and killing of Bhat, who was working as a nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) when she was abducted and killed on April 18, 1990. Her body was later recovered from Malabagh on the outskirts of Srinagar.

The charge sheet names Malik along with Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo as accused.

Malik has denied involvement in Bhat’s killing and claimed he learnt about the murder months later while in judicial custody. He has also challenged the prosecution’s reliance on an alleged handwritten JKLF note purportedly recovered from the crime scene.

He rejected allegations that Bhat was targeted for allegedly working as an informer for security forces, maintaining that she was an innocent civilian. He also questioned why his name did not figure in the investigation conducted at the time of the killing.

In a separate personal message included in his submission, Malik announced his decision to separate from his Pakistani wife, Mushaal Hussein Mullick. He said he did not want her to spend the rest of her life carrying the burden of his circumstances or living as his widow.

Malik urged Mushaal to begin a new chapter of her life “with dignity and hope” and expressed his love and respect for her and their daughter, Raziya Sultana. He also asked his daughter to remain in regular contact with her grandmother in Kashmir.

Malik and Mushaal married in Pakistan in 2009 and have a daughter. The development is separate from Malik’s conviction in the 2017 terror-funding case, in which a Delhi court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 2022.

His request for capital punishment in the Sarla Bhat case forms part of the ongoing proceedings before the Srinagar court and does not itself amount to a death sentence. (Agencies)