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Shabir Ahmed Shah. Photo: X
The Supreme Court of India on Thursday granted bail to veteran Kashmiri leader Shabir Ahmed Shah after more than six years of pre-trial detention.
Shah — a 74-year-old chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) — is a longstanding figure in the region’s separatist movement.
The court cited excessive detention length, slow trial progress, and procedural concerns in the case brought by the National Investigation Agency.
Shah was arrested in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act over allegations of funding separatist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The judges questioned the prosecution’s reliance on decades-old speeches rather than recent evidence to justify continued custody.
The decision highlighted growing judicial scrutiny of prolonged pre-trial detention under anti-terror laws in India’s post–Article 370 of the Constitution of India political landscape.
