Srinagar, Sep 02: Jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik has decided not to contest the trial proceedings against him in the 1990 murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat and has instead requested the court to award him capital punishment, The Economic Times reported.
According to the report, Malik submitted a 25-page statement before the Additional Sessions Judge (TADA/POTA) and Special Judge designated under the NIA Act in Srinagar through his counsel, Advocate Abu Adil Pandit. The matter has been listed for the prosecution’s reply on September 19, 2026.
Malik, while maintaining that he has been falsely implicated in the case, said he had decided after “deep reflection” and Istikhara not to contest the proceedings further. He specifically clarified that his decision should not be treated as an admission of guilt or acceptance of the allegations against him, while requesting the court to impose capital punishment.
The development comes after the State Investigation Agency (SIA) filed a 737-page chargesheet in June in connection with the abduction and killing of Sarla Bhat, who was working as a nurse at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS). The chargesheet names Malik along with Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, Abdul Hamid Sheikh, Mohammad Yousuf Sofi and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo as accused.
Bhat was killed on April 18, 1990, and her body was subsequently recovered from the Malabagh area on the outskirts of Srinagar. Malik has denied any involvement in her killing. According to his submission, he first learnt about the murder months after it occurred while he was in judicial custody. He has also challenged the prosecution’s reliance on an alleged handwritten JKLF note purportedly recovered from the crime scene.
Malik has further rejected allegations that Bhat was targeted because she was allegedly working as an informer for security forces. He maintained that she was an innocent civilian and questioned why his name did not figure in the investigation conducted at the time of the killing.
In a separate personal message contained in the same submission, Malik announced his decision to separate from his Pakistani wife, Mushaal Hussein Mullick. According to The Economic Times, Malik said he did not want Mushaal to spend the rest of her life carrying the burden of his circumstances or living as his widow.
He urged her to begin a new chapter of her life “with dignity and hope” and expressed his love and respect for Mushaal and their daughter, Raziya Sultana. Malik also asked his daughter to remain in regular contact with her grandmother in Kashmir, including by speaking to her for at least five minutes every day, the report said.
Malik and Mushaal married in Pakistan in 2009 and have a daughter, Raziya Sultana.
The development is separate from Malik’s conviction in the 2017 terror-funding case, in which a Delhi court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 2022. The request for capital punishment in the Sarla Bhat case is part of the ongoing proceedings before the Srinagar court and does not itself constitute a death sentence.
The Srinagar court is scheduled to consider the matter further on September 19.
