SC grants bail to Shabir Ahmed Shah in terror funding case

The Supreme Court granted bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in a terror funding case in which he was arrested in 2019 by the NIA. The court noted anomalies in the trial and his long incarceration while reserving detailed bail conditions

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in a terror funding case in which he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on June 4, 2019.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said a detailed order will follow with some stringent bail conditions on Shah.

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The bench passed the order after hearing rejoinder arguments on behalf of Shah, represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared for the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

During the hearing, the bench pointed out several anomalies in the trial and flagged the long incarceration of Shah.

On September 4 last year, the apex court refused to grant interim bail to Shah in the case and issued notice to the NIA, seeking its response on his plea challenging a Delhi High Court order dated June 12, 2025 that denied him relief.

The high court refused to grant bail to Shah, observing that the possibility of his carrying out similar unlawful activities and influencing witnesses could not be ruled out.

In 2017, the NIA booked 12 people on allegations of conspiracy for raising funds to disrupt peace by pelting stones, damaging public property and conspiring to wage war against the central government.

Shah was alleged to have played a “substantial role” in facilitating a separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir by inciting the general public to raise slogans in support of Jammu and Kashmir’s secession, paying tributes to the family of slain terrorists by eulogising them as “martyrs”, receiving money through hawala transactions and raising funds via cross-LoC trade, which were allegedly used to fuel subversive and militant activities.