The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for relying on alleged inflammatory speeches from the 1990s while opposing the bail plea of Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in a terror-funding case.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked the agency about the relevance of decades-old material when senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the NIA, referred to transcripts of certain videos during the hearing.
“These speeches are not a new creation. These are something which were already there, say 30 years or 35 years before today. Now, you recover them in 2019 and say that these are the inflammatory speeches,” the bench observed.
Luthra submitted that the agency had material against Shah, including inflammatory videos recovered during searches at his premises, incriminating emails, and witness statements. He informed the court that some of the videos were from the 1990s and that dates were available for certain recordings.
On the progress of the trial, the NIA said that 34 witnesses had already been examined, and protected witnesses were yet to depose.
After hearing the agency’s submissions, the bench posted the matter for March 12, when senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for Shah, will present rejoinder arguments.
On January 13, the Supreme Court had pulled up the NIA for not properly presenting its case and asked it to justify Shah’s detention of over six years. The court had directed the agency to produce his speeches and other relevant material.
The top court had earlier, on September 4 last year, refused interim bail and issued notice to the NIA on Shah’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s June 12, 2025 order denying him bail.
The Delhi High Court had rejected Shah’s bail plea, observing that the possibility of him engaging in similar unlawful activities and influencing witnesses could not be ruled out. It also declined his alternative request for house arrest, citing the serious nature of the allegations.
The High Court noted that Shah was the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, an unlawful organisation, and referred to a table showing 24 pending cases against him relating to similar allegations, including conspiracy for the secession of Jammu and Kashmir from the Union of India.
Shah was arrested by the NIA on June 4, 2019 in a case registered in 2017 against several persons accused of conspiring to raise funds for stone-pelting, damaging public property, and waging war against the Government of India.
According to the NIA, Shah played a “substantial role” in facilitating separatist activities by:
- inciting public support for secession,
- eulogising slain militants as “martyrs”,
- receiving funds through hawala channels, and
- raising money via cross-LoC trade allegedly used for subversive and militant activities.
His appeal against the trial court’s July 7, 2023 order denying bail was dismissed by the High Court.
