New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday listed, for August 3, hearing on Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali’s plea challenging the trial court’s order framing charges against him in a terror funding case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested Watali in 2017 under various Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A division bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Talwant Singh gave time to the agency to file a reply in the matter and posted it with other connected matters for hearing in August.
Earlier, the same bench had issued a notice to the probe agency.
The NIA had alleged that terrorist organisations like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM), with the support of Pakistan’s ISI, perpetrated violence in the valley by attacking civilians and security forces.
In May 2022, a trial court had framed charges against Watali and others in a case related to alleged terrorism and secessionist activities that disturbed Jammu and Kashmir in 2017.
Charges were framed against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, HM chief Syed Salahuddin and Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah and Masarat Alam, under various Sections of the UAPA and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Mohammad Yusuf Shah, Aftab Ahmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Mohammad Akbar Khanday, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Watali, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Masarat Alam, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, and Naval Kishore Kapoor were also charged in the case.
Malik, leader of the JKLF, was convicted and awarded life imprisonment after he had pleaded guilty to the charges.
(IANS)
