Delhi High Court denies bail to J&K terror funding accused

The Delhi High Court recently rejected the bail plea filed by one Naval Kishore Kapoor, accused of offences under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in relation to a terror funding case in Jammu and Kashmir [Naval Kishore Kapoor Vs National Investigation Agency]..The Bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur observed that there was sufficient evidentiary material to show that Kapoor had aided and abetted terror funding in the Kashmir valley.‘Sufficient material is available to prima facie point towards involvement of the Appellant that he along with Accused no. 10 [Zahoor Watali] aided and abetted flow of funds from fake and bogus companies floated in UAE to channelize the same to secessionists and separatists in Kashmir valley, suffice to say, there are reasonable grounds to believe the allegations against the Appellant to be prima facie true.. which on broad probabilities, are sufficient to implicate the Appellant in the present case,” the Court observed.Hence, it rejected Kapoor's appeal against a trial court order denying him bail..Kapoor was booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which accused him of being part of a larger criminal conspiracy for disrupting peace in the Kashmir valley by collecting funds through illegal channels for the purpose of funding terrorist activities.NIA started investigation in 2017 and Kapoor was arrested in July 2018..The Court noted that the facts and circumstances showed that Kapoor was part of a larger conspiracy in cahoots with terror outfits. "The present is a case of a conspiracy, therefore, it is the circumstances that unfold the evidence, from which it has emerged that there is a larger conspiracy entered between various terrorist organizations with the assistance from funding raised by them through illegal means for furthering terrorist and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir," the Court observed.The Court also took into account the fact that the Supreme Court had rejected bail of co-accused Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali on the grounds that the allegations against him were prima facie true.The Court also rejected bail on the grounds that there was a likelihood of Kapoor fleeing from clutches of law.Further, if Kapoor is granted bail, then he may influence the witnesses or tamper with evidence, the Court said..The Court noted that under UAPA, rigours for granting bail is stricter in cases where charges have already been framed.“Once the Charges have been framed in a given case, it is safe to assume that there is a strong suspicion based on the material brought on record by the Prosecution, which is satisfied in the present case,” the Court concluded while rejecting Kapoor's bail plea. .Advocates Lakshay Dhamija, Mohit Gupta and Sagar Rawa appeared for Kapoor.Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, Special Public Prosecutor Akshai Malik, with advocates Ayush Agarwal, Karl P Rustomkhan, Udbhav Sinha, Siddhant Gupta and Khawar Salim appeared for NIA.[Read Judgment]