New Delhi, October 24 — A special NIA court in New Delhi has ordered that trial begin against Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik and six others in a money-laundering case pursued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), ANI reported on Saturday. Special NIA judge Prashant Sharma passed the order on Friday and directed that the recording of prosecution evidence commence from November 19. The hearing was held in a closed courtroom.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

The ED alleges that the accused received foreign funding from the Pakistani establishment through hawala channels, and that proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 8,94,87,639 — yaani about Rs 8.95 crore — were generated and thereafter received by the accused persons. The agency further alleges the funds were routed through various means and channels to propagate a secessionist ideology and subversive activities. These are allegations; the case will now be tested at trial.

Source: ANI via Desi Talk Chicago

Malik appeared through video conferencing from Tihar Jail, denied the charges and said he will contest the case, ANI reported. The other accused are Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Naval Kishore Kapoor, Trison Farms and Construction Pvt Ltd, and Masarat Alam Bhat. In September, the same court had directed that charges be framed against Malik and the six others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Source: ANI via LatestLY

The ED case is based on the case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2017, in which Sections 120B, 121 and 121A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 38, 39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were invoked, ANI reported. Malik, the jailed chief of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), is already serving a life sentence in Tihar Jail in a separate NIA terror-funding case, Inshorts noted in its summary of the ANI report.

Source: Inshorts (ANI report summary)