Kashmiri Separatist leader Shabir Shah has been granted bail by Delhi's Patiala House Court in a money laundering case linked to terror funding. This comes after the Supreme Court had earlier granted him bail in a related UAPA terror funding case.
Bail in Money Laundering Case
Kashmiri Separatist leader Shabir Shah has been granted bail in a money laundering case by Delhi's Patiala House Court on Saturday.
Special Judge (NIA) judge Prashant Sharma granted bail to Shabir Shah in a money laundering case linked with terror funding. He was earlier granted bail in a terror funding case by the Supreme Court.
Bail Conditions and Legal Argument
Shabir Shah was arrested in 2019 by the NIA. The ED had also registered a money laundering case. The court has granted him bail on a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and one surety bond of Rs 1 lakh. Advocate M S Khan had filed a bail plea for Shabir Shah, who had submitted that the Supreme Court had already granted bail to him in the NIA case, and the ED's case is based on the NIA case, and despite this, he has been in custody since 2019. Advocate MS Khan said Shabir Shah may come out of Tihar Jail after furnishing his bail bonds on Monday.
Background: Supreme Court Bail in UAPA Case
Earlier, the Supreme Court granted bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah in an alleged terror funding case registered under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act (UAPA).
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta granted him liberty after hearing detailed submissions from Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves appearing for Shah on one hand and Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra representing the NIA, on the other.
During the course of the hearing, the counsel representing him submitted that Shah was not named by the NIA in its initial chargesheet and was only made an accused in the supplementary chargesheet filed after his arrest, and he has been in custody for more than six years. The counsel argued that there are more than 400 witnesses to be examined in the matter, and the trial is not likely to be completed anytime soon.
The NIA, on the other hand, submitted that Shah is a key accused in having raised funds for unlawful activities with the object of creating disruptions in the valley.
Shah had approached the Delhi High Court seeking bail after the trial court denied him liberty in 2023. The Delhi High Court, however, also denied him relief by noting that there is overwhelming evidence against the separatist leader and allegations against him prima facie appear to be true. The High Court had also noted that there were 24 FIRs registered against Shah in connection with similar offences. Shah then approached the apex court challenging the High Court's decision to reject his plea.
The NIA had registered a case for allegedly terror funding in 2017. In 2019, Shah was arrested in a case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against him and other separatist leaders in 2017. The separatist leader has not been released from judicial custody ever since. (ANI)
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