Delhi court bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah in terror funding case

A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah in a money laundering case linked to alleged terror funding.

The bench of the Patiala House Court reportedly allowed the bail plea, subject to a personal bond of ₹1 lakh and a surety of the same amount.

Shah, who was arrested in 2019 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), is also facing proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

As per reports, his counsel M S Khan had argued that Shah had already been granted bail by the Supreme Court of India in a related terror funding case and that the ED’s case was based on the same set of allegations. The plea also highlighted that Shah has remained in custody since 2019.

The court accepted the submissions and granted relief. Khan said Shah is likely to be released from Tihar Jail after furnishing the bail bonds on Monday.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Shah in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta had passed the order after hearing arguments from both sides.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Shah, had submitted that his client was not named in the initial chargesheet filed by the NIA and was later added in a supplementary chargesheet after his arrest. He also pointed out that Shah has spent over six years in custody and that the trial, involving more than 400 witnesses, is unlikely to conclude soon.

Opposing the plea, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing the NIA, had argued that Shah was a key accused in raising funds for unlawful activities aimed at creating unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

Shah had earlier approached the Delhi High Court after a trial court denied him bail in 2023. The Hhigh Ccourt rejected his plea, observing that there was prima facie evidence against him and noting that multiple FIRs had been registered in connection with similar offences.

The NIA had registered the terror funding case in 2017, following which Shah was arrested in 2019. He has remained in judicial custody since then.

Shah was accused of playing a “substantial role” in facilitating a separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir by inciting the public to raise slogans supporting secession, paying tributes to families of slain terrorists by eulogising them as ‘“martyrs”’, receiving money through hawala transactions and raising funds via cross‑LoC trade, which were allegedly used to fuel subversive and militant activities.​

(with inputs from syndicated feed)