Kashmiri Journalist Fahad Shah granted bail

The police probing the matter had said that Shah’s posts were “tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities”, as the journalist posted about a Kashmir-based family claiming the innocence of their son who was killed during an encounter.

New Delhi: A local court on Thursday granted bail to Kashmiri Journalist Fahad Shah, who was arrested earlier this year in February in Pulwama for allegedly sharing 'anti-national' content on social media.

Shah’s lawyer Umair Ronga took to Twitter to notify that the editor of the online portal The Kashmir Walla was granted bail by a special court designated under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008. “Special court designated under NIA today granted bail to the chief editor of @tkwmag @pzfahad in FIR No 70/2020 P/S Safakadal and FIR No 19/2022 P/S Pulwama,” Ronga said in a tweet.

He further informed that even as the Pulwama-based journalist has been granted bail, another case is pending in Jammu against the Shah. “We have also challenged his detention under the Public Safety Act. It will come up for hearing on December 15,” Ronga added.

The police probing the matter had said that Shah’s posts were “tantamount to glorifying the terrorist activities”, as the journalist posted about a Kashmir-based family claiming the innocence of their son who was killed during an encounter. Shah was arrested in February this year for “glorifying terrorism, spreading fake news, and inciting the general public against law and order.”

In March, he was booked under the Public Safety Act. Besides Jammu, cases have also been registered against him in Pulwama, Shopian, and Srinagar.