Journalist Fahad Shah, incarcerated under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) for over seven months, was granted bail in two cases by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday.
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“A special court designated under the NIA today granted bail to chief editor of Kashmir Walla Fahad Shah in FIR No. 70/2020 in police station Safakadal and FIR No. 19/2022 in police station Pulwama,” Mr. Shah’s lawyer said.
Mr. Shah, 33, was arrested in February this year following a report that emerged on his online portal, Kashmir Walla, regarding an encounter in Pulwama. The police accused him of “uploading anti-national content, including photographs, videos and posts with criminal intention to create fear among public”.
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The journalist was later booked under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). However, despite securing bail in three cases, Mr. Shah was also booked under the PSA. At present, he is lodged in a jail in Jammu.
It remains to be seen if the fresh bails will impact Mr. Shah’s detention under the PSA, which empowers the security agencies to detain a person for a prolonged period without a trial.
“Our legal team believes that Fahad’s Kafkaesque detention seems to challenge our judiciary, democratic values, and independent journalism at once. Now, they would soon approach the appropriate court to secure further legal remedies,” reads the note on the Kashmir Walla website on its editor’s arrest.
Mr. Shah started Kashmir Walla in 2009 and “despite years-long financial constraints and challenging situations managed to sail through, and report, the defining decade in Kashmir’s recent history”, it said.
His arrest evoked sharp reactions from the media fraternity within and beyond Kashmir. At least 50 press freedom organisations, human rights groups and publications wrote to J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on February 14, seeking Mr. Shah’s immediate release and the withdrawal of all police investigations launched into his journalistic work.