In a significant development related to cases of Kshmiri separatists, Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected the appeals filed by Kashmiri separatist leaders Masarat Alam Bhat, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali and others against the trial court order framing charges against them in a terror funding case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain also rejected the appeals filed by Hizbul Mujahideen Chief Syed Salahuddin’s sons Shahid Yousuf and Syed Ahmad Shakeel.The Court held that since the appeals were against the order on charge, they are not maintainable in view of Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act.Section 21 of the NIA Act states that interlocutory orders of the Special NIA Court are not subject to appeal.
The Special NIA Court had, in March 2022, charged the appellants for offences under the UAPA over allegations of funding terror. Special Judge Praveen Singh had said that the accused had the common object of secession and they were in close association to terrorist organisations under the “guiding hand and funding of Pakistani establishment”.
Notably, in the same case, the Court had also charged Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as well as Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Founder Yasin Malik. While Saeed and Salahuddin are stated to be in Pakistan, Malik pleaded guilty in the case and was awarded a life sentence. The NIA’s appeal seeking death penalty for him is pending before the Delhi High Court.
Today, in a common judgment, the High Court also rejected the appeals filed by several other persons in different terror cases.This includes Javed Ali, Alemla Jamir, Masasong Ao, Abdur Rehman, Md Waqar Lone, Rajkumar, Rouf Ahmad Bhat, Mateen Ahmad Bhat, Haris Nisar Langoo, Manan Dar, Hanan Gulzar Dar, Zamin Adil Bhat and Arsalan Feroze Ahenger.
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