Terror Funding Case: Delhi HC Issues Notice to NIA on Shabir Ahmed Shah’s Regular Bail Plea

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in relation to a plea by Shabir Ahmed Shah, a Kashmiri separatist leader, seeking regular bail in an alleged terror funding case.

A division bench comprising Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anish Dayal has issued notice on Shah’s appeal, challenging an order passed by a special judge on July 7, that denied his bail plea.

Representing Shah, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves contended that this is a “no material case” and emphasized that the central probe agency has already filed a chargesheet in the matter.

“The chargesheet has been filed. Charges have been framed. The trial has begun. His appeal challenging order framing charges is pending before this court… This is a no material case. We want to argue there is no material at all,” the senior advocate informed the court.

The court has issued notice on the appeal and directed the NIA to provide relevant materials within two weeks, along with advance copies to Shah. The matter is scheduled to be heard on September 12.

The appeal, filed through Advocates Mugdha and Kamran Khwaja, asserts that Shah’s name is absent from the main and first supplementary chargesheet filed by the NIA. It argues that there is no evidence linking him to the alleged conspiracy leading to the offenses.

The appeal states, “Given the lack of material against the appellant, his prolonged period of incarceration, the challenges of a speedy trial involving 400 witnesses for the prosecution, the appellant seeks bail.”

It further adds, “The appellant has spent over 4 years in detention under the current FIR, and intermittently, a total of 35 years in various prisons in Kashmir and the country. Despite this, he has not been convicted or charged in any instance. Nine Preventive Detention Orders against him have been annulled. The present case marks his first-ever charge by the ED under case ECIR no./04/DZ/2007, in which the appellant steadfastly maintains his innocence.”

NIA alleges that multiple accused individuals collaborated to raise and collect funds with the intent of causing disruption in the Kashmir valley and waging war against the government of India. Shah was apprehended in June 2019 and was named as an accused in the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the NIA on October 04, 2019.

The allegations against Shah include his purported pivotal role in cultivating a separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir, offering tributes to the families of deceased terrorists, receiving money through hawala transactions, and generating funds through LOC trade to support “subversive and militant activities.”

In March 2022, the trial court framed charges against Shabir and several others, including Yasin Malik, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Salahuddin, Rashid Engineer, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, Altaf Ahmad Shah @ Fantoosh, Nayeem Khan, and Farooq Ahmad Dar @ Bitta Karate.