Representative image
A special NIA court in Delhi on Monday transferred the case against Kashmiri separatist Aasiya Andrabi back to the judge who had convicted her on terror charges under UAPA and for IPC offences as well, holding that the “judge who delivered the conviction must also decide the sentencing”.Special Judge Chanderjit Singh was transferred from the NIA court to the Karkardooma courts in Nov 2025 but as the judgment in the case was pending, he took the case file with him for pronouncing the verdict.On Monday, special judge (NIA) Prashant Sharma noted that Judge Chanderjit Singh, though now posted at Karkardooma Courts, had “extensively heard” the matter, including final arguments, and had “examined the record threadbare” before convicting the accused on Jan 15.Judge Sharma recorded that he joined the NIA court after Nov 20, 2025, whereas Judge Singh had been hearing the case since 2024 and pronounced the guilty verdict on Jan 14. Sharma also noted he received the case file only after Jan 16, by which time final arguments had already been concluded before Judge Singh.The Delhi high court, in an order dated July 15, 2025, had ruled judges who reserve judgments must pronounce them within weeks of their transfer.Andrabi who founded the all-women separatist group Dukhtaraan-e-Millat (DeM) in 1987, was arrested in April 2018. The group was subsequently banned.
