On Wednesday (2nd September), Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief commander and Islamic terrorist Yasin Malik filed an affidavit before the additional sessions judge hearing TADA/POTA cases in Srinagar, seeking capital punishment for himself in the 1990 Sarla Bhat murder case.
Malik, however, has denied any role in the horrific killing of the Kashmiri Pandit nurse, who was abducted by Muslim terrorists from her hostel and later discovered dead with several gunshot wounds.
Yasin Malik expressed ‘shock’ over implication in Sarla Bhat murder case, denies role
In the 25-page affidavit filed before the court through his counsel Adil Pandit, Yasin Malik claimed that the charges against him in the 36-year-old case have been brought due to “political circumstances” and that he has been “falsely implicated”.
“To my utter shock and disbelief, I was arrayed as one of the accused in the said chargesheet after more than three decades of the occurrence. I have no complaint against this court or the prosecuting agencies. I respectfully state that, in my understanding, the present proceedings have arisen out of political circumstances and decisions and I believe that I have been falsely implicated,” he wrote.
Yasin Malik further claimed that before filing the chargesheet, three State Investigation Agency (SIA) officers visited him in Tihar Jail for questioning him about the allegations relating to the Kashmiri Pandit nurse’s murder.
“During my examination, they confronted me with only two allegations. Firstly, they referred to an alleged handwritten note purportedly issued by the JKLF, allegedly recovered from the scene of occurrence, claiming responsibility for the murder and mentioning the names of Javaid Mir, Sheikh Abdul Hamid and Mohammad Yasin Malik. Secondly, I was asked, is it true that JKLF suspected a nurse of SKIMS Soura, namely Sarla Bhat, of passing information to security personnel regarding your presence in the house of Hafiz Bazaz and if you ordered JKLF to kill her,” the affidavit states.
Yasin Malik invokes ‘coma’ in his defence, declares Sarla Bhat ‘innocent’
The jailed Islamic terrorist claimed that tens before Sarla Bhat’s abduction, on 8th April 1990, he suffered life-threatening injuries and remained in coma for weeks.
“According to the prosecution, I allegedly directed the murder of Sarla Bhat on April 19, 1990. However, the historical record demonstrates that I had sustained life-threatening injuries on April 8, 1990, remained in a coma, and was widely reported to have died. Indeed, I was declared dead on two occasions – first on April 8, 1990, and again on April 27, 1990, the day of Eid according to reports circulated at the time. It is therefore incomprehensible how a person who was unconscious, fighting for his own survival and widely believed to be dead could have participated in, directed or orchestrated the offence as alleged,” the affidavit reads.
He also claimed that when Sarla Bhat torture and murder case happened in April 1990, Governor Jagmohan was leading the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and he did not, at any point, suggest that Malik was ordered Bhat or any other Kashmiri Pandit’s killing.
Furthermore, Yasin Malik claimed that during his questioning by the SIA officers, he was asked whether Sarla Bhat was working secretly for the security forces and whether the forces conducted the raid at Narwara, Downtown Srinagar, on 8th April 1990. In response, Malik claimed to have said that Sarla Bhat was ‘innocent’ and was not covertly working for the security forces.
“One of the allegations put to me during my examination was whether Sarla Bhat was working covertly for the security forces and whether she was responsible for the raid conducted at Narwara, Downtown Srinagar, on April 8, 1990. I categorically stated that the allegation is entirely false. Sarla Bhat was neither working for the security forces in any covert capacity nor was she in any manner responsible for the raid at Narwara on April 8, 1990. She was an innocent civilian. In my view, she was as innocent as my own thirteen-year-old daughter, Raziya Sultana,” he wrote.
Yasin Malik invokes ‘Istakharah’ for not challenging the trial court proceedings against him
In his affidavit, Malik claimed that he offered a Istakharah, an Islamic prayer used to ask Allah for guidance when making an important decision. Based on his circumstances and ‘deep reflection’, he decided not to contest the trial court proceedings.
“That, considering my personal circumstances and after deep reflection, I have decided not to contest the trial proceedings further. My decision shall not be treated as an admission of any prosecution fact, guilt or acceptance of the allegations made against me. I request for capital punishment,” Malik wrote.
‘I will be hanged’: Yasin Malik divorces Pakistani wife Mushaal
Before declaring his intention of not challenging the trial court proceedings against him in the present case, Yasin Malik said that he is divorcing his Pakistani wife Mushaal Malik.
The jailed terrorist stated that Mushaal is 20 years younger than him, and he does not want her to live as his widow or bear difficulties due to his circumstances. Malik expressed certainty that he will sooner or later be hanged to death.
Malik also said that many of his relatives including daughters, friends and well-wishers have also been distanced from us because they were repeatedly called by the NIA and SIA for questioning.
“Through this affidavit, I also wish to address my wife and my daughter. For the last eight years, I have not been able to hear your voices or communicate with you, as I was not permitted phone calls or video conferencing with you. I know that my time with you has been limited and uncertain. You are Twenty (20) years younger than me, and I do not want you to spend the rest of your life carrying the burden of my circumstances or living as a widow. I therefore request you to find the courage to begin a new chapter of your life with dignity and hope…” he wrote.
“That, before I will be hanged, I have taken the decision to separate you from the bond of our Nikah,” Malik declared.
1990 Sarla Bhat murder case and the J&K SIA chargesheet
The 1990s were the most horrific times for the local Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir, as Pakistan-backed Islamic terrorism engulfed the region. Kashmiri Pandits were being singled out and killed by Kashmiri Muslim terrorist groups.
On 18th April 1990, then 27-year-old Sarla Bhatt, a staff nurse at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar, was abducted near the hospital. She was brutally assaulted and shot dead with an automatic rifle in Omer Colony, Malbagh.
The case of Sarla Bhat was reopened by the SIA in August 2025.
In June 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir SIA filed a comprehensive 737-page chargesheet in a special TADA/POTA court, naming terrorist Yasin Malik, former chief commander of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), as the mastermind behind the abduction, torture, and murder of Sarla Bhatt.
The SIA chargesheet alleged that the killing was part of JKLF’s systematic campaign of targeted violence against Kashmiri Pandits aimed at instilling fear and forcing their mass exodus from the Valley.
The authorities stated that the JKLF had a fabricated pretext, falsely accusing Bhatt of passing information against their members. Even though most Kashmiri Pandits had already fled the valley at that point, Sarla had continued to work at the hospital.
The evidence cited by the SIA include eyewitness accounts, protected witnesses, medical and ballistic reports, a terror claim note, and electronic records.
Currently, in judicial custody serving a life sentence in a separate terror-financing case, Yasin Malik faces charges of abduction, murder, criminal conspiracy, and offences under the Ranbir Penal Code, TADA, and the Arms Act. Khurshid Ahmad Chalkoo, another JKLF terrorist who had shot and killed Sarla Bhatt, is named as a co-accused, along with three other JKLF terrorists who are dead.
More than three decades after the SIA finally reopened probe in Sarla Bhatt’s case in 2025. Senior IPS officer Nitish Kumar, present ADG of CID/SIA, and IPS Divya Dev, SP, SIA, led the investigation that involved tracking down other nurses who worked at SKIMS at that time, papers, digital evidence, electronic and other records.
Malik is in prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special NIA court for terror funding activities in Jammu and Kashmir in May 2022. He was convicted under the UAPA after he pleaded guilty in the case. He was awarded two life imprisonment sentences, in addition to five 10-year sentences, all to run concurrently.
The JKLF terrorist is also facing charges for the kidnapping of the daughter of then Indian Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Rubaiya Saeed, and killing 5 IAF personnel in early 1990. He is also allegedly involved in the killing of Justice Neelkanth Ganju, the judge who had ordered the death sentence for JKLF terrorist Maqbool Bhatt, and the murder of the former director of Doordarshan Kendra in Srinagar, Lassa Kaul.
