Security breach: Delhi Prisons suspends 4 officials over Yasin Malik's SC appearance

The Department of Delhi Prisons has suspended four officials, including a deputy superintendent, in connection with the physical appearance of jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik in Supreme Court, a statement said on Saturday.

The presence of Malik, serving life term in Tihar jail, in a packed courtroom created a flutter in the apex court on Friday.

Malik, who is in jail following his conviction and life sentence in a terror funding case, 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.

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.