Indian top court denies interim bail to Shabbir Shah despite deteriorating health
Notice issued to NIA on Hurriyat leader’s plea against fabricated charges
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has refused to grant interim bail to illegally detained senior Hurriyat leader, Shabbir Ahmad Shah, despite his worsening health condition.
According to Kashmir Media Service, a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta gave the ruling while hearing Shah’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s order of June 12 that had denied him bail in a fabricated terror funding case.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing Shah, pleaded that the incarcerated leader was “very sick” and urgently required medical relief. The apex court, while refusing interim bail, issued notice to the notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) to submit its response within two weeks.
Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Vice Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, was arrested by the NIA on June 4, 2019, under trumped-up charges. The so-called case was registered in 2017 against several Hurriyat leaders and activists on allegations of “raising funds for stone-pelting” and “waging war against India” – accusations widely dismissed as politically motivated and aimed at criminalizing the Kashmiris’ freedom struggle.
Kashmiri political and civil society circles maintain that Shah’s prolonged detention despite severe health complications exposes India’s use of its judiciary and agencies like the NIA as tools to crush the will of Kashmiris striving for their UN-recognized right to self-determination.
