The Delhi High Court has rejected the bail plea of Kashmiri separatist leader Shabbir Ahmed Shah, who is accused in a terror funding case. The decision was pronounced by a bench comprising Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur.

Shabbir Ahmed Shah had challenged the Special NIA Court's decision at Patiala House Court, which had previously denied him bail.

The investigation into the case has revealed that Shah allegedly has links with Pakistani terrorists. He is accused of actively promoting separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and facilitating terror funding through hawala channels. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Shah in 2019 on these terror funding charges, and he has been in custody ever since, continuously seeking bail.

According to records, a total of 24 cases have been registered against Shabbir Ahmed Shah. He has been convicted in 18 of these cases, while 3 cases have been dismissed. Investigations are still ongoing in the remaining 3 cases. Shah's lawyer argued that he has been in custody for the past six years, and the NIA's chargesheet lacks concrete evidence against him.

However, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has submitted that Shabbir Ahmed Shah was in contact with Hafiz Saeed, the head of the banned terrorist organization Jamaat-ut-Dawa. Jamaat-ut-Dawa, a Pakistan-based terrorist organization responsible for global terrorist activities, is also proscribed by the UNSC. Furthermore, Shah was reportedly in contact with Mohammad Shafi Shayar, a Jammu resident who fled to Pakistan with his family after being released from jail.

The court's decision to deny bail was based on the gravity of the charges against Shah. The bench emphasized that granting bail in such serious cases could potentially impede the judicial process.