The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from J&K separatist leader Yasin Malik and others on a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation to transfer the trial in two cases from Jammu to New Delhi.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih issued notice to Malik and other accused and directed them to file a response by December 18.
During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that Malik need not be physically taken to Jammu court for trial in the kidnapping case as Tihar jail has a court with video-conferencing facilities.
"We have filed applications for amending the cause title. We have also placed on record the fact that there already exists a fully functional court in the jail itself with all the facilities for video conferencing if needed. And in the past proceedings have taken place in that courtroom in jail," SG Mehta submitted to the court.
The matter has been posted for the next hearing on December 18.
The top court was hearing a CBI plea against the September 20, 2022 order of a Jammu trial court that directed Malik, serving life term in Tihar jail, to be produced before it physically to cross-examine the prosecution witnesses in the kidnapping case of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of politician Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Observing that even Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab was given a fair trial, the bench had earlier said that it could order trial to take place inside the jail besides asking the judge to come to the national capital for the proceedings.
Mehta had said Malik's physical appearance in the Supreme Court had raised security concerns previously.
In 2023, Mehta wrote to then Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla flagging a "serious security lapse" after Malik was brought to the Supreme Court to appear in a case.
Malik, serving life sentence in a terror-funding case, was brought to the high-security apex court premises in a prison van escorted by armed security personnel without the court's permission.
Voicing surprise at his presence, Mehta informed the apex court there was a procedure for high-risk convicts to be allowed into the courtroom to argue their case personally.
The CBI said Malik, the top leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was a threat to national security and could not be allowed to be taken outside the Tihar jail premises.
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