The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Registrar General (RG) of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to ensure proper video conferencing facilities at the special CBI court (YADA/POTA) in Jammu where the trial of separatist leader and the head of the banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik and five others in two kidnapping and terror related cases will take place.

A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan also directed the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court to ensure proper video conferencing facilities at Tihar jail also where Yasin Malik is lodged and is undergoing life imprisonment.

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“We direct the Registrar General of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir to look into what is stated and take immediate steps for installing a proper system through which hearing can be conducted by using video medium or video conference. The system should be such that there can be effective cross-examination by using the system,” the bench ordered.

It passed the order taking note of the trial judge’s observations that the video conferencing system was not working properly in the Jammu court.

The top court was hearing a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking the transfer of the trials in the two cases from Jammu to New Delhi.

The two cases whose transfer of trial from Jammu to New Delhi has been sought by the investigating agency include the killing of four Indian Air Force personnel on January 25, 1990 in a shootout in Srinagar and other is the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of late Union Home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, on December 8, 1989.

Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was Union Home Minister from December 2, 1989 to November 10, 1990.

The CBI had also challenged the order of Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu (TADA/POTA) passed on September 20, 2024, and September 21, 2024, issuing a production warrant against Malik in two different cases.

A Jammu special Court (TADA/POTA) by September 20/21, 2022, orders had sought Malik’s physical appearance for cross-examination of witnesses in relation to the killing of four IAF personnel and abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former Union Home Minister late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in 1989.

The CBI has approached the Supreme Court against Jammu’s special CBI court’s order directing the presence of the separatist leader in trial proceedings involving the cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses. The investigating agency had said that Malik could be present and participate in the trial court proceedings including the cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, virtually through video conferencing.

The top court had stayed the September 20/21, 2022, order of Jammu court on April 24, 2023.

The court had earlier suggested exploring the possibility of setting up a makeshift courtroom in Tihar jail for conducting the trial of Malik and five others in two cases and remarked that Ajmal Kasab was also given an opportunity for a fair trial.

On November 28, 2024, the top court had issued notice to Yasin Malik and five others seeking their response on the CBI’s plea for the transfer of trial from Jammu to New Delhi. Since neither Malik nor other five had responded to notice, on December 18, 2024, the top court gave them another two weeks’ time to respond to the investigating agency’s plea for the transfer of trial from Jammu to New Delhi.