The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, who has been in custody since 2019 in connection with a terror funding case.

A division bench comprising Justices Navin Chawla and Shailender Kaur pronounced the operative portion of the order, stating, “The present appeal is dismissed,” thereby upholding the trial court’s July 2023 decision denying Shah bail.

In his appeal, Shah argued that he was neither named in the main charge sheet nor in the first supplementary charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He also submitted that he had already spent over seven years in custody, with little likelihood of an early conclusion to the trial.

Shah further contended that he had endured over three decades in various forms of incarceration—including time in prison and under house arrest—without any conviction or formal charge in several matters.

Although Shah was granted bail in August 2023 in the money laundering case linked to the broader terror funding probe, he remains in custody pursuant to the NIA case.

The NIA arrested Shah in June 2019 and named him in the second supplementary charge sheet, alleging his involvement in raising and collecting funds to fuel unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. The agency claimed Shah received money via hawala channels and cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade, which was then used to support subversive and militant activities in the region.

In May 2022, a Delhi court framed charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code against Shah, alongside co-accused separatist leaders Nayeem Ahmad Khan and Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.

Earlier, on April 9, the Delhi High Court rejected Khan’s bail application in the same case, citing concerns over national security.

The court had observed that Khan’s release could endanger the unity and integrity of the nation due to his alleged role in channeling funds to terrorist organisations for secessionist objectives.