Delhi HC Dismisses Plea of Hizbul Chief’s Sons Against Framing of Charges in Terror Funding Case

New Delhi, Dec 23: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the pleas filed by two sons of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and other accused, challenging the framing of charges against them in a terror funding case.

A bench comprising Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain rejected the appeals, holding that they were not maintainable. The detailed judgment is awaited.

The accused had approached the High Court against a 2021 trial court order that framed charges against them in the case.

According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the case relates to the transfer of funds through hawala channels by Pakistan-based terrorists to Jammu and Kashmir as part of a criminal conspiracy with operatives in India. The funds were allegedly used to fuel secessionist and terrorist activities in the Union Territory.

Salahuddin’s son Shahid Yousuf was arrested in October 2017, while his other son, Syed Ahmad Shakeel, was arrested by the NIA on August 30, 2018, from his residence in Srinagar in connection with the terror funding case registered in 2011.

The NIA has alleged that Shahid Yousuf received funds from Hizbul Mujahideen from abroad and was charge-sheeted in 2018. It further stated that Syed Ahmad Shakeel allegedly received money through Western Union from absconding accused Aijaz Ahmad Bhat and was involved in raising, receiving, and collecting funds for the terrorist organisation through its cadres in Saudi Arabia.

Syed Salahuddin, the self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, has been designated a global terrorist by the United States.