The Delhi high court on Thursday denied bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, who has been jailed in connection with a terror funding case since 2019. “The present appeal is dismissed,” said a bench of justices Navin Chawla and Shailender Kaur, pronouncing the operative part of the order.
Shah moved the court against a Delhi court’s July 2023 order denying him bail. In his plea, Shah said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not name him in the main and the first supplementary charge sheet. He said he had been incarcerated for over seven years, and there was no likelihood of the trial concluding soon.
Shah pleaded that he has been in different prisons for 35 years, apart from being under house arrest for a substantial period, without a conviction or charge against him.
In August last year, a Delhi court granted Shah bail in the money laundering matter related to the terror funding case.
The NIA arrested Shah in June 2019 and arraigned him as an accused in the second supplementary charge sheet, alleging he conspired to raise and collect funds for disruptions in Kashmir and played a key role in building a separatist movement. Shah is accused of receiving money through hawala and raising funds through cross-Line of Control trade and fuelling subversive and militant activities.
In May 2022, the Delhi court framed charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code against Shah, another separatist leader, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, and Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.
{{/usCountry}}In May 2022, the Delhi court framed charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code against Shah, another separatist leader, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, and Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.
{{/usCountry}}On April 9, the high court rejected Khan’s bail plea in the same case, saying his release could threaten India’s unity, integrity, and security, since he raised funds for terrorist organisations to propagate secessionist activities and create unrest.