Srinagar, Sep 3, : Jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik has told a Srinagar court that he will no longer contest the proceedings against him in the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat and has asked that he be awarded capital punishment if found guilty.Malik, however, has simultaneously denied involvement in Bhat’s killing and maintained that he has been falsely implicated in the case.In a 25-page submission filed through his counsel before the Additional Sessions Judge handling TADA/POTA matters in Srinagar, Malik said his decision to stop contesting the proceedings should not be treated as an admission of guilt or acceptance of the allegations against him.The submission comes after the State Investigation Agency filed a chargesheet in June naming Malik and four others in connection with the abduction and killing of Bhat, who was working as a nurse at SKIMS when she was abducted in April 1990.Malik has questioned the evidence relied upon against him and disputed the circumstances in which the case has been revived decades after the killing.According to reports, the court has listed the matter for the prosecution’s response on September 19.Malik has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019. [KNT]
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