As part of the Indian judiciary’s connivance with the Narendra Modi government to prolong the illegal detention of senior leader of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Shabbir Ahmed Shah, the Delhi High Court today adjourned till 22nd of this month the hearing in a plea seeking his bail.
Shabbir Ahmed Shah, who was arrested by India’s infamous National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2017 in connection with a false case, is presently lodged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Appearing for Shabbir Shah, senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves contended that the APHC leader has already spent more than six years behind the bars and that he should be granted bail. He asserted that there was no evidence at all against Shabbir Shah.
The High Court then asked Special Public Prosecutor Akshai Malik, appearing for the NIA, about the documents he was directed to place on record today. The NIA Counsel sought additional time to file a compilation report of all the documents they were relying on in the case.
The High Court stating that this was a question of personal liberty granted one week to NIA to file certain ‘relevant documents’ on record and listed the matter for further hearing on September 22.
Earlier on August 07, the High Court had issued notice to the NIA on an appeal filed by Shabbir Shah against a trial court order refusing to grant him bail.
Meanwhile, APHC-AJK chapter Convener, Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, in a statement issued in Islamabad expressed serious concern over the continued illegal detention of Shabbir Shah and other Hurriyat leaders in Tihar and other jails. He said the Indian agencies have no proof against these leaders, who are being victimized for their political beliefs. He said the Indian government and its agencies are big hindrance in the way of their release and wanted to silence these political voices of Kashmiris by keeping them in jails. He urged the UN and world human rights bodies to take cognizance of the unlawful detention of the Hurriyat leaders and play an effective role in their release.—KMS
