Terror Funding Case: Delhi Court Grants Statutory Bail To Kashmiri Separatist Leader Shabir Shah In PMLA Case

A Delhi Court recently granted statutory bail to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah in a money laundering case connected to a terror funding case.

Additional Sessions Judge Dheeraj Mor of Patiala House Courts said that the other cases in which Shah is in custody are very serious in nature but that cannot be a sufficient ground for declining him statutory bail, when he has not been convicted in any of the offences.

“Even if he is granted bail in this case, he is not likely to be released from the jail in the other said offences before 24.07.2024 i.e. the date on which the maximum punishment of 07 years in the present case expires for him as an under-trial prisoner,” the court said.

It was Shah's case that he had already suffered more than half of the period of the maximum punishment prescribed in the offence of money laundering.

He contended that he was in custody in the money laundering case since July 26, 2017, and would complete his entire 07 years of maximum imprisonment as an undertrial prisoner on July 25.

He also said that the co-accused Mohd. Aslam Wani was acquitted for all the offences except the offence punishable under Section 25 Arms Act and after his acquittal in the scheduled offences, the allegations of the prosecution of generating proceeds of crime as a result of criminal activity relating to the scheduled offence did not survive.

On the other hand, ED opposed the application by contending that the allegations against Shah were grave and serious in nature which entailed severe punishment.

It was submitted that Shah was found involved in commission of serious crime and generation of huge amount of proceeds of crime from various countries including Pakistan to carry out unrest in Kashmir and was also found involved in terror financing activities.

ED said that if released on bail, Shah may again indulge in similar criminal activities.

Granting statutory bail, the court said after acquittal of the co-accused Mohd. Aslam Wani in all the predicate offences except Section 25 Arms Act, the proceeds of crime in the money laundering case has been limited only to criminal activities relating to the surviving scheduled offence under Section 25 Arms Act, as per Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary's case.

“This drastic limitation has given a severe blow to the case of the prosecution,” the court said.

It further said that Shah was not required to satisfy the mandatory twin conditions of bail as contained in Section 45 PMLA as he has been in custody in the case for 06 years and 10 months which was way more than half of the total prescribed maximum punishment of 07 years.