Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah's bail application in the case of terror funding, which is under investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A bench of two judges, comprising Justices Navin Chawla and Shalinder Kaur, supported the July 7, 2023, order of the trial court denying Shah bail.
"Today's appeal is dismissed," declared the bench, stating that a detailed order would follow later.
Now in judicial custody, Shah had moved his appeal in August 2023 against the refusal of the lower court to grant him bail. His lawyers had contended that there was no strong evidence and that the case was politically motivated.
Conversely, the NIA had strongly objected to the grant of bail, claiming that the offenses were serious and part of a larger conspiracy involving support for militant activities.
Shah was arrested by the NIA in June 2019 and has been detained at Tihar Jail ever since on charges related to terror funding.
A few separatist leaders from Kashmir—Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, and Nayeem Khan—have been accused by the NIA in different cases of terror financing, advocating violence, and urging the youth to pick up guns against the state. Ever since Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019, the government tightened the grip on these leaders, restricting their public defiance of separatist ideology and inflammatory media comments.
These groups have long financed insurgent groups and regularly glorified militants who were killed during clashes with security personnel.
Members sympathetic to pro-India perspectives or cooperating with national security agencies were regularly targeted and harassed by terrorist actors. The separatist leadership regularly glorified these acts of violence as heroic resistance against the efforts of the state, including the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
They were also used to go to militant funerals and urge youth to engage in terrorist organizations under the guise of what they referred to as a "Jehad" or Holy War.
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