Supreme Court Grants Bail to Shabir Shah, Citing Trial Delays and Strict Safeguards

Overview

• A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta granted the 74-year-old Kashmiri separatist leader bail during the pendency of the NIA terror-funding trial, pointing to more than eight years in custody and little trial progress.
• Shah must remain in Delhi unless the trial court permits travel and must surrender his passport to the court.
• He may use only one phone or landline, keep it switched on at all times, and share the number with the special public prosecutor.
• He must report to the NIA investigating officer once every fortnight between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., avoid influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence, refrain from media comments about the case, and file an undertaking not to commit similar offences.
• The court said any breach allows the prosecution to seek cancellation of bail, and it made no observations on the merits; Shah was arrested on June 4, 2019 in a 2017 case, with counsel Colin Gonsalves for Shah and Siddharth Luthra for the NIA.