COVID-19: Delhi court issues notice to Tihar on Shabbir Shah's plea seeking separate cell

A Delhi court on Monday issued notice to Tihar Jail authorities on a plea of Shabbir Shah, one of the main Kashmiri separatist leaders, seeking a separate cell in the prison in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Special Judge Dharmendra Rana directed jail authorities to file their response by July 1.

The application, filed through advocates MS Khan and Quaser Khan in a Patiala House court, said that Shah was suffering from various ailments, including heart disease, and that his immunity was very low.

This makes him prone to COVID-19, the advocate said, seeking proper treatment and a separate cell in the jail.

Lawyers also submitted that the jail manual has a provision to provide temporary accommodation in case of an epidemic. The application was filed after Shah, conveyed about the same through his wife to the lawyer.

The application, which was moved on Friday by his lawyers, said that looking at the recent occurrences of COVID-19 in the central jail and the health condition of the accused, his life would be in danger if he comes in contact with the virus.

Shah is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in two separate cases related to alleged terror financing and money laundering.

Earlier, Shah had mentioned in a bail application that he is a chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party and allegations leveled against him are "motivated and based on falsehood".

The first case was registered against him in 2007 for the alleged money laundering committed in 2005 for the purpose of terror financing. He was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 25, 2017, in connection with the 2005 case.

In another case, the NIA took Shah in custody in June 2019 in connection with its probe into a separate terror funding case involving Jama'at-ud-Da'wah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Several separatist leaders including Shah, Masrat Alam, and Asiya Andrabi are in judicial custody in connection with the case which involves the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

( With inputs from ANI )