Supreme Court Grants Bail to Kashmiri Separatist Shabir Ahmed Shah in Terror Funding Case
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in a terror funding case, noting that the delay in the trial could not be adequately explained. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order after hearing Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves representing Shah and Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra for the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Shah, who was arrested in June 2019, was named as an accused in the second supplementary chargesheet filed by the NIA on October 4, 2019. The charges alleged that he played a key role in building a separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir, paying tribute to families of slain terrorists, receiving money through hawala transactions, and raising funds via Line of Control (LOC) trade to “fuel subversive and militant activities.”
Shah had earlier approached the High Court challenging a July 7, 2023, order by the special NIA court rejecting his bail plea, but the petition was dismissed. His plea argued that he was not mentioned in the main and first supplementary chargesheet, which had shown that the alleged offences were a result of the conspiracy. The appeal stated, “In the absence of any material against the appellant, the prolonged period of incarceration, and the impossibility of a speedy trial with 400 witnesses to be examined by the prosecution, the appellant seeks bail.”
The NIA, however, contended that Shah and other accused conspired to raise and collect funds to cause disruption in the Kashmir Valley and to wage war against the Government of India.
Case Title: SHABIR AHMED SHAH vs NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY, SLP(Crl) No. 13399/2025
