SRINAGAR, Sep 3: Jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has decided not to contest the ongoing trial 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 conveyed his decision through a 25-page statement submitted 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 response on September 19.
In his statement, Malik maintained that he had been falsely implicated in the case but said that, after “deep reflection” and Istikhara, a voluntary Islamic prayer seeking divine guidance, he had decided not to contest the proceedings further.
He, however, clarified that his decision should not be construed as an admission of guilt or an acceptance of the allegations levelled against him. At the same time, he requested 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 Sarla Bhat, who was working as a nurse at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) when she was abducted on April 18, 1990. Her body was later recovered from the Malabagh area on the outskirts of Srinagar.
The charge sheet names Malik and four others—Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo—as accused in the case.
Malik has denied involvement in Bhat’s killing. In his submission, he claimed that he came to know about the murder months after it occurred while he was in judicial custody. He also questioned the prosecution’s reliance on an alleged handwritten JKLF note said to have been recovered from the crime scene.
He rejected allegations that Bhat had been targeted on suspicion of working as an informer for security forces, maintaining that she was an innocent civilian. Malik 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 the submission, Malik announced his decision to separate from his Pakistani wife, Mushaal Hussein Mullick.
According to reports, Malik said he did not want Mushaal to spend the rest of her life carrying the burden of his circumstances or living as his widow. He urged her 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.
Malik also asked his daughter to remain in regular contact with her grandmother in Kashmir, including speaking to her for at least five minutes every day, the report said.
Malik and Mushaal married in Pakistan in 2009 and have a daughter.
The proceedings in the Sarla Bhat case are separate from Malik’s conviction in the 2017 terror-funding case. A Delhi court sentenced him to life imprisonment in that case in 2022.
Malik’s request for capital punishment in the Sarla Bhat case remains part of the ongoing judicial proceedings and does not amount to a death sentence unless ordered by the competent court.
