Delhi High Court seeks NIA's response to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah's bail plea in terror funding case

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The Delhi High Court has called upon the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to present its stance on a bail petition submitted by Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah in connection with a terror funding case.

A bench composed of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anish Dayal issued a notice to the NIA in response to an appeal filed by Shah against a trial court's decision to deny him bail. The court allowed the agency some time to provide the relevant documents.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the appellant, sought bail on the grounds that "there was no material evidence" against his client.

In his appeal against the trial court's denial of bail, Shah argued that he had been in custody for four years and anticipated a lengthy trial process. "The order from the Learned Additional Sessions Judge contradicts the legal principles and the weight of evidence in this case. The appellant has been detained for over four years, with over 400 witnesses yet to be examined, and only 15 witnesses have been heard in the past four years," the appeal stated.

The NIA's counsel informed the bench that relevant evidence would be presented at a later stage.

In 2017, the NIA initiated legal action against 12 individuals for allegedly conspiring to raise funds with the intention of causing disruption through activities like stone-pelting and damaging public property, as well as conspiring to wage war against the Indian government. Shah was taken into custody on June 4, 2019, in connection with this case.

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In March 2022, the trial court formally charged Shah under Sections 120B, 121, 121A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) read with Section 120B of the IPC, Section 15 of the UAPA read with Section 120B of the IPC, and Sections 17, 18, and 20 of the UAPA, all related to conspiracy to raise and collect funds for disruptive activities and plotting to wage war against the Indian government.

The trial court dismissed Shah's bail request on July 7th. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for September 12th. (With inputs from PTI)