Security breach: Four Delhi prisons officials suspended after Yasin Malik's Supreme Court appearance

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik at the Supreme Court, in New Delhi, Friday, July 21, 2023. PTI Photo

The Department of Delhi Prisons has suspended four officials, including a deputy superintendent, in connection with the surprise physical appearance of Yasin Malik, the jailed chief of JKLF (Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front), in the Supreme Court. The incident, which occurred on Friday, caused a stir in the apex court as Malik is currently serving a life sentence in Tihar jail for his involvement in a terror funding case.

Malik was brought to the high-security apex court premises in a prison van escorted by armed security personnel without the court's permission.

He walked into the courtroom to the utter surprise of all present.

"In the matter of physical production of Malik before the Supreme Court on Friday, the Prisons Department has suspended one deputy superintendent, two assistant superintendents and one head warder Friday night as they were found to be prima facie responsible based on preliminary enquiry," the statement said.

"Detailed enquiry is being conducted by DIG Tihar to identify any other officials who may also be responsible for the serious lapse," it added.

On Friday, prison officials said Deputy Inspector General (Prisons-Headquarters) Rajiv Singh would conduct the inquiry to find out the lapse and fix the responsibility of erring officials and submit a report to the Director General (Prisons) within three days.

Voicing surprise at Yasin's presence in the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Friday told a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta that there was a procedure for high-risk convicts to be allowed into the courtroom to argue their case personally.

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When Mehta pointed at Malik's presence in the courtroom, the bench said it had not granted him permission or passed any order allowing him to argue his case in person.

Malik appeared in the top court when a bench headed by Justice Kant was hearing an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the September 20, 2022 order of a trial court in Jammu in the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of then Union minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.