Supreme Court rejects Yasin Malik's plea for physical hearing, allows virtual cross-examination

The Supreme Court on Friday denied a request for the physical production of jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik before a Jammu court but permitted him to cross-examine witnesses virtually in cases related to kidnapping and murder. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan cited a December 2024 order by the Centre under Section 303 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which restricts Malik’s movement outside the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi for a year. The bench ruled that physically producing him in court was inappropriate given the prohibitory order.

India