The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Delhi High Court order granting bail to a trader from Jammu & Kashmir, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, an accused in terror funding case. The National Investigative Agency (NIA) had moved the apex court challenging the bail granted to the accused by Delhi HC in a terror funding case.
The SC order setting aside Watali’s bail was passed by a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar. The Delhi High Court had in September last year granted bail to Watali, who was arrested for his alleged role in a terror-funding case involving Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. He has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail after his arrest in August 2017.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs 1.03 crore belonging to Watali, in a money laundering case related to funding of terror organisations in Jammu & Kashmir. “The agency has issued a provisional order for attachment of assets of Watali under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) case is based on a charge sheet filed by the NIA as part of its probe against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed,” an official said.
The investigating agency raided Watali’s premises in June 2017 and August 2017, and claimed to have found “highly incriminating material pertaining to the receipt of funds by Watali from foreign sources, and its further distribution to terrorists and separatists in Kashmir Valley for anti-India activities”.
—India Legal Bureau