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Shah was arrested in the matter on June 4, 2019, for alleged conspiracy to raise and collect funds for causing disruption by way of pelting stones, damaging public property, and conspiring to wage war against the government of India
Kashmiri Separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah on Monday moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail in a terror funding case lodged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2017.
Shah has challenged the order of the trial court denying him bail in the case vide order dated July 7, 2023.
The division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anish Dayal issued notice on Shah’s plea and sought response of the NIA.
Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, on behalf of Shah, submitted, “This is a new bail application in a UAPA matter, where his period of incarceration is 6 years”.
“Chargesheet has been filed. Charges have been framed. Trial has begun. The appeal is against the order on charges is pending. It is coming up on October 12. We would like to argue the bail application earlier because this is no material case, there is no material at all”, the senior counsel submitted.
The court ordered, “Issue notice. Mr. Akshai Malik, SPP NIA accepts notice. Let relevant documents be placed on record, within 2 weeks from today, with advance copies. List on September 12”.
In his appeal assailing the trial court order rejecting his bail application, Shah said that he has been in custody for four years and the trial would take a long time to conclude.
"The impugned order of the Learned Additional Sessions Judge is contrary to law weight of evidence and probabilities of the case. The appellant has been languishing in jail in the present case for four years, with over 400 witnesses to be examined and only 15 witnesses having been examined till date in over four years," the appeal said.
Shah was arrested in the matter on June 4, 2019.
In 2017, the NIA had registered a case against 12 persons, including Shabir Ahmed Shah for alleged conspiracy to raise and collect funds for causing disruption by way of pelting stones, damaging public property and conspiring to wage war against the government of India.
In March 2022, the trial court framed charges against the appellant under Sections 120B, 121, 121A IPC, 13 UAPA read with 120B IPC, 15 UAPA r/w 120B IPC, and Sections 17, 18, 20 UAPA for allegedly conspiracy to raise and collect funds for causing disruption and conspiring to wage war against the government of India.
The NIA Court in May 2022, framed charges against Watali and other Kashmiri separatist leaders namely Farooq Ahmed Dar@ Bitta Karate, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, Md. Yusuf Shah, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, Md. Akbar Khanday, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, and Naval Kishore Kapoor under various Sections of IPC and UAPA.
Case Title: Shabir Ahmed Shah v. National Investigation Agency
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