NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday posted to hear the plea by Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in 2017 in a terror financing case, on August 3 challenging the charges framed by the trial court against him.
“Let reply be filed by the NIA. List along with other connected matters on August 3,” said a division bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh.Watali was arrested by the NIA in 2017 under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).A trial court, in May last year, framed charges against Watali and others in a case related to alleged terrorism and secessionist activities that disturbed Jammu and Kashmir in 2017.
Watali has been charged with the allegation of “transferring money to Hurriyat leaders” that he received from individuals including Hafiz Saeed, the head of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.
Earlier in March, the division bench issued notice to the NIA and sought their response to the plea.The NIA charge sheet submitted to the trial court said the Centre received credible information that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the chief or “amir” of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, and the secessionist and separatist leaders, including members of the Hurriyat Conference, were acting in connivance with active terrorists of proscribed organisations, such as the HM and the LeT, for raising, receiving and collecting funds domestically and abroad through various illegal channels, including “hawala”.
It also alleged that this was done for funding separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and as such, they had entered into a larger conspiracy for causing disruption in the valley by way of pelting stones on security forces, systematically burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India.
In 2019, the Enforcement Directorate had held Watali guilty of contravening the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and imposed a fine of Rs 62 lakh on him.Investigation under FEMA was initiated against Watali on the basis of information about certain suspicious foreign exchange transactions.
“The Adjudicating Authority imposed a penalty of Rs 62 lakh in a case of operating Non-Resident saving accounts (NRE and NRO) account in HSBC Bank at New Delhi in an ‘unauthorized manner’,” ED had said in a statement.