NEW DELHI – Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah wife has claimed he wasbeing “slow poisoned” in the prison.
Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma, who had in August last yeardenied the relief to Shah citing ongoing probe, directed EnforcementDirectorate’s (Ed) special public prosecutor NK Matta to file a reply tothe fresh bail plea by February 26, PTI has reported.
In his bail application, the accused told the court that investigation inthe case has been completed since the agency has filed its charge sheet andthere was no chance for Mr Shah to hamper the probe.
Advocate MS Khan, appearing for Mr Shah, told the court that no purposewill be served by keeping him in custody.
Mr Shah, who appeared before the court through video conference, also saidhe was lacking treatment inside the jail. “Trial is only going on because Iam alive. If there is no Shah, there will be no trial,” 62-year old Shahsaid.
Meanwhile, Mr Shah’s wife Bilquies Shah, also moved an application beforethe court through the defence lawyer and claimed that her husband wassuffering from various ailments and was on regular medicine for last sixyears.
She alleged that Mr Shah was facing difficulty in getting those medicinesinside the jail and was now also suffering from sudden loss ofconsciousness.
“My husband had similar fainting attacks in Tihar Jail. Repeated requestswere made to the jail authorities but no steps were taken in this regard.This is a clear indication of slow poisoning of my husband by the jailauthorities,” she told the court in her application.
The court, meanwhile, initiated the trial and started recording thestatement of the prosecuton witnesses. It posted the matter for furtherhearing on February 26.
The court had on August 22 last year rejected Shah’s bail plea after the EDsaid it was probing whether he had received money from countries such asPakistan to promote terrorism in India.
On November 15, the court had framed money laundering charges against MrShah and alleged hawala dealer Mohammad Aslam Wani in the case. Both theaccused pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
The ED had on September 23 filed the charge sheet against Mr Shah, accusinghim being in touch with Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed. It had alsonamed Wani, who is in judicial custody along with Mr Shah.
The court had taken cognisance of the over 700-page charge sheet whichrelied upon 19 witnesses.
The central probe agency, in the charge sheet filed under sections of thePrevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), had furnished Shah’s statementswhere he had allegedly told the investigators that he has “no source ofincome of his own” and that he does “not file any Income Tax Return (ITR).”
The probe agency had recorded the statement of 36-year old Wani where heallegedly said that he came to Delhi from Srinagar “at the directions ofShah” sometime in April, 2003 and that was the first time he had met him.Wani was arrested by the ED on August 6 from Srinagar.
The ED alleged that Wani was asked by Shah to “work for him (on acommission basis) in collecting hawala money from Delhi and deliver to himat Srinagar.”
The case dates back to August 2005 in which the Delhi Police’s Special Cellhad earlier arrested Wani.
Wani had then claimed that he had given Rs 2.25 crore to Mr Shah, followingwhich the ED had registered a case under PMLA against the duo in 2007. Hewas arrested with Rs 63 lakh, allegedly received through ‘hawala’ channelsfrom the Middle East, and a cache of ammunition, on August 26, 2005.
In 2010, a Delhi court had cleared Wani of terror funding charges in 2005case but had convicted him under the Arms Act.