A special court in Jammu Kashmir granted bail to Kashmiri Journalist Fahad Shah in two cases on Thursday.
Advocate Umair Ronga wrote: “Special court designated under NIA today granted bail to chief editor of @tkwmag @pzfahad in FIR No 70/2020 P/S Safakadal and FIR No 19/2022 P/S Pulwama.”
Special court designated under NIA today granted bail to chief editor of @tkwmag @pzfahad in FIR No 70/2020 P/S Safakadal and FIR No 19/2022 P/S Pulwama. pic.twitter.com/GgpR5YhMR9
— Umair Ronga (@umairronga) December 8, 2022
The Kashmiri journalist was arrested on February 4 with police claiming that he allegedly glorified terrorism, spread fake news and incited the people of Jammu Kashmir.
On 26 February, he was granted bail by an NIA court in Srinagar. However, he was immediately re-arrested by the Shopian police in a case registered against the reporting in January 2021.
On 5 March, he was granted bail in the case– but he was subsequently re-arrested again by the Srinagar police dating back to July 2020. A day before the bail hearing in this case, on 14 March, Shah was detained under the PSA and was lodged in the Kupwara Jail.
On May 23, Fahad’s custody was handed over by the Kupwara jail authorities for the investigation into the FIR number 01/2022 registered to the SIA at the Joint Interrogation Centre, in Jammu, against an op-ed written by Abdul Aala Fazili in 2011.
Fahad was detained was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) sections 13 and 18 and sections 120B, 121, 124, and 153B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). “Unnamed editor” of The Kashmir Walla and associates have been booked under sections 13 and 18 of the UAPA and section 120B of the IPC.