New Delhi, April 23 -- The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday told the Delhi high court that taking names of senior politicians and bureaucrats does not absolve separatist leader Yasin Malik or negate his links with militants like Hafiz Saeed. The NIA filed a rejoinder to Malik's reply to its plea for enhancing his life sentence in a terror-funding case to death penalty and asserted that the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief was "well connected with multiple terrorist organisations and with supporters of the terrorist organization LeT" and that he dropped names of senior politicians, media personnel, foreign delegates and bureaucrats to gain popularity and draw public sympathy. The NIA stated that Mailk cannot be permitted to "revisit" the matter when the charges against him have already culminated into his conviction. A bench of justices Navin Chawla and Ravidner Dudeja took the NIA's rejoinder on record and listed the agency's appeal for hearing on July 21. In his reply filed to the NIA's appeal, Malik had earlier said that he spent nearly three decades as a key figure in a state-sanctioned "backchannel" mechanism, working with a succession of prime ministers, intelligence chiefs, and even business tycoons to foster peace in Jammu and Kashmir. In an 85-page affidavit, Malik shared details about his journey -" from his school days to links with terrorists and meetings with political leaders." "Yasin Malik has admitted that he was the commander-in-chief of JKLF and he has himself admitted the fact that he was having connection with Sayeed Salauddin, chief of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen," it added. The NIA, in the rejoinder, also took exception to Malik calling himself a "good sacrificial goat", stating that such statements were unfair to the judicial process. Asserting that the case against Malik was based on evidence and not hearsay or "emotional narrations", the NIA said there was material demonstrating that he was in "contact with the top leadership of Pakistan, including the Prime Minister, the President, senators of the Pakistani Senate, and the chief ministers of all provinces, and was using such contacts to propagate narratives against India and to further the secessionist agenda in J&K". A trial court in Delhi awarded Malik life sentence on May 24, 2022, after holding him guilty of various offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code. The NIA filed an appeal in 2023 in HC seeking enhancement of his life term to the maximum punishment of death penalty....