NEW DELHI (TIP): A Delhi court snubbed on Thursday an Enforcement Directorate (ED) prosecutor for asking Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah to chant ‘bharat mata ki jai’ to prove that he believes in the Indian Constitution.
The remark came after a defence counsel said Shah had been behind bars for many years and deprived of his constitutional rights. Allowing the ED to interrogate Shah for six more days, additional sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma chided the lawyer for his remark, warning that the courtroom was not a “television studio”.
During the proceedings, the ED submitted that foreign funds were used for terror activities in Kashmir, including stone pelting on the personnel of security forces. The agency told the court that the source of funding of Shah’s properties, worth hundreds of crores of rupees, had to be unearthed.
The prosecutor told the court that Shah, arrested on July 25 in the money laundering, was “totally non-cooperative” during his questioning by the ED.
However, the counsel appearing for Shah alleged that his client was being pressured and compelled to give various statements during his custody by ED officials. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been tough on separatists regarding the alleged funding by Pakistan for illegal activities in Kashmir.
Shah was arrested by the ED a day after several Hurriyat leaders were taken into custody in a case of alleged terror funding in the Valley to fuel unrest.