Quite disappointing
The Kashmir Walla founder Fahad Shah granted bail in ‘seditious’ article case
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Friday ordered the release of Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah on bail in a case involving publication of a “seditious” article in his now defunct digital magazine, The Kashmir Walla, subject to him furnishing a personal bond and a surety of Rs 50,000 each.
The bail order was pronounced through virtual mode by Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Mohal Lal, said Jahanzaib Hamal, an advocate who assisted senior advocate PN Raina during the court hearing.
He said that the Bench also quashed charges levelled against Shah under Sections 18 of UAPA and Sections 121 and 53-B of the Indian Penal Code. While the first section relate to terror conspiracy, the last two pertain to waging war against the nation and about accusations and assertions prejudicial to the integrity of the nation.
Shah will still face trial under Section 13 of the UAPA for allegedly abetting unlawful activities and Sections 35 and 39 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. Of these two provisions, the former is about illegally receiving foreign funds and the later about offences by companies.
Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal of the J&K and Ladakh High Court had, in April this year, quashed the detention of Shah under the Public Safety Act, saying that the authorities did not follow the procedural requirements in letter and spirit, and that the detaining authority did not give any “compelling reasons” for detaining him under preventive detention when he was already in custody of the police in a case and no bail had been granted to him in the matter.
Shah was held under provisions of the UAPA following the registration of a case by J&K’s State Investigation Agency at CIJ police station in Jammu on April 4, 2022, nearly 11 years after the publication of an article titled ‘The shackles of slavery will break’ in his magazine in 2011. The article was written by a Kashmir University scholar, Abdul Aala Fazili, who too has been arrested.
A chargesheet was filed in the case in the NIA Court at Jammu in October last year and charges were framed against Shah and Fazili in March this year. In the chargesheet, SIA had stated that on April 4, 2022, it received from a “discreet but reliable source” a printout of the “highly provocative” and “seditious” article.
Shah was booked for the first time in May 2020 for his coverage of an encounter between militants and security forces wherein he quoted locals accusing the latter of taking away their belongings. The charge was denied by the security forces.
He was booked again on January 30, 2021 for publishing an article in his digital magazine, allegedly stating that security forces pressured the management of a private school in Shopian to organise a Republic Day function. The Army had denied the charge and lodged a complaint against him. Shah had got bail in this case as well.
He was also booked in an FIR registered at Pulwama police station on charges of incorrect reporting about the killing of three militants.
Arun Sharma – 2023-11-18 19:32
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