Overview

• Malik asserts in an 85‑page affidavit that then IB special director V. K. Joshi asked him to meet Lashkar‑e‑Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan in 2006 as part of a backchannel peace effort.
• He claims he debriefed Manmohan Singh the same day in New Delhi with then NSA M. K. Narayanan present, and that the prime minister conveyed gratitude for his efforts.
• The affidavit, filed on August 25 and reported this week, was submitted as his response to the NIA appeal seeking to upgrade his 2022 life sentence to capital punishment.
• Malik says successive governments engaged him in dialogue from V. P. Singh through Manmohan Singh, citing contacts during the Vajpayee era with Ajit Doval, Shyamal Dutta and Brajesh Mishra, and he adds that he urged jihadist groups in Pakistan to choose peace.
• He contends the 2006 engagement was later distorted to justify UAPA charges; he remains in Tihar Jail while the High Court has directed his reply by November 10 in the NIA appeal.