Close X
Saturday, December 28, 2024
ADVT 
India

Court Snubs Enforcement Directorate Lawyer For Asking Shabir Shah To Chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'

Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Aug, 2017 01:37 PM
    A Delhi court snubbed on Thursday an overenthusiastic prosecutor for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for asking Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah to chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai' to prove his patriotism, saying it was not a television studio.
     
     
    Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma chided the lawyer for his remark and later allowed the ED's plea for extension of 64-year-old Shah's custodial interrogation in a decade-old money laundering case.
     
     
    The ED's counsel Rajeev Awasthi alleged that Shah was ruining the country by using money to fund terror and breached the line by daring the separatist leader to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' to prove his patriotism.
     
     
    However, an anguished judge stopped him, warning that the courtroom was not a "television studio."
     
     
    "Argue on the merits of the case," said the judge.
     
     
    During the proceedings, the ED submitted that foreign funds were used for terror activities including stone pelting on the security agencies in the Valley.
     
     
    The agency told the court that the source of funding of properties of Shah, worth hundreds of crores of rupees, had to be unearthed.
     
     
    The prosecutor told the court that Shah, arrested on July 25 in the money laundering, was "totally non-cooperative" during his questioning by the ED.
    Advocate M S Khan, appearing for Shah, however, alleged that his client was being pressured and compelled to give various statements during his custody by ED officials.
     
     
    He opposed the submission made by the agency, saying that it was not revealing the complete facts before the court.
     
     
     
    The agency said there was a need to probe a lot of cash transactions which were used for terror activities and stone pelting causing huge inconvenience in the Valley.
     
     
    The ED said it was ascertaining Shah's role in "anti-national activities" as well as the terror funding through 'hawala' channels from countries like Pakistan, the UAE and the UK.
     
     
    It told the court that the separatist leader was in continuous contact with anti-national elements, besides terrorists in Pakistan, and received money for "disrupting the peace of Jammu and Kashmir".
     
     
    It also said that Shah's associates were to be confronted with him and the "international ramification" of financial involvement was to be unearthed.
    The ED's application, seeking seven days' custody, also said during interrogation Shah revealed that he was obtaining donations for the Kashmir issue in cash for which he was not filing any income tax returns.
     
     
    The records relating to the donations were to be recovered and the accused had to be confronted with them, the agency said.
     
     
    Shah was arrested by the ED a day after several Hurriyat leaders were taken into custody of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in a case of alleged terror funding in the Valley to fuel unrest.
     
     
     
     
    He was taken into custody in the August 2005 case in which the Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested Mohammed Aslam Wani (35), an alleged hawala dealer, claiming that Rs 63 lakh was recovered from Wani out of which Rs 52 lakh was allegedly to be delivered to Shah.
     
     
    The agency had earlier issued summons to Shah in the case, the prosecution had said, adding that Wani had claimed that he had given Rs 2.25 crore to Shah.
     
     
    Investigating agencies like the NIA have cracked down on Hurriyat leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law -- Altaf Ahmed Shah, also known as Altaf Fantoosh -- and six other Kashmiri separatists.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    LeT Operative Sandeep Sharma Converts To Islam, Joins Lashkar To Win Over Kashmiri 'Sweetheart'

    LeT Operative Sandeep Sharma Converts To Islam, Joins Lashkar To Win Over Kashmiri 'Sweetheart'
    Sandeep Sharma, a.k.a Adil, who was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police last Sunday, joined terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba as he wanted to marry a Kashmiri girl "at any cost". 

    LeT Operative Sandeep Sharma Converts To Islam, Joins Lashkar To Win Over Kashmiri 'Sweetheart'

    'Rahul Gandhi's Comments Immature; Jawaharlal Nehru Responsible For Kashmir Mess'

    Reminding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of the 1984 riots, the BJP on Wednesday hit back stating that his comments were proof of an “immature mind”.

    'Rahul Gandhi's Comments Immature; Jawaharlal Nehru Responsible For Kashmir Mess'

    Internet Shocked By Reports Of Local Kashmiris Laughing At Bullet Ridden Amarnath Yatris

    Internet Shocked By Reports Of Local Kashmiris Laughing At Bullet Ridden Amarnath Yatris
    According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, an injured pilgrim named Rajesh Naval recalled that there were a few shops near the site of the attack. 

    Internet Shocked By Reports Of Local Kashmiris Laughing At Bullet Ridden Amarnath Yatris

    Punjab Police Bust Inter-State Terror Module; Arrest Two From Ferozepur, Kapurthala

    Punjab Police Bust Inter-State Terror Module; Arrest Two From Ferozepur, Kapurthala
    A .12-bore rifle and .32-bore revolver were seized from accused gangster Gurpreet Singh, who was arrested from Kohala village in Ferozepur district, and Avtar Singh, who was arrested from Bhanolanga village in Kapurthala district.

    Punjab Police Bust Inter-State Terror Module; Arrest Two From Ferozepur, Kapurthala

    Police Identify People Found Dead In Burned-Out Car; Seeking Vehicle's Owner

    Police Identify People Found Dead In Burned-Out Car; Seeking Vehicle's Owner
    CALGARY — A woman and a man found dead in a burned-out car at a Calgary construction site have been identified.

    Police Identify People Found Dead In Burned-Out Car; Seeking Vehicle's Owner

    Amarnath Yatra Terror Attack: Bus Driver, Who Drove Through Firing, Says Allah Gave Me Strength

    Amarnath Yatra Terror Attack: Bus Driver, Who Drove Through Firing, Says Allah Gave Me Strength
    Call it Salim Sheikh Gafoor's sheer presence of mind or quick thinking, but it saved for sure over 50 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims from certain death during a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, though he himself attributes his heroism to the Almighty.

    Amarnath Yatra Terror Attack: Bus Driver, Who Drove Through Firing, Says Allah Gave Me Strength