SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

India’s Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to Kashmiri leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in a terror funding case filed in 2017.

Shah, 72, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in June 2019 along with 11 others on charges of funding and promoting secessionist and militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta allowed Shah’s appeal against an order by the Delhi High Court that had denied him bail last June.

The court cited "irregularities" in the trial and Shah’s prolonged incarceration while granting him relief.

Prosecutors allege Shah incited the public to support Kashmir’s secession from India, praised slain militants as “martyrs,” and raised funds through hawala channels and trade across the Line of Control, which divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Investigators say the case involves a conspiracy by several accused to organize violent protests, instigate stone-pelting at security forces, burn schools, and damage public property.

According to prosecutors, Shah’s outfit, the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party, advocated Kashmir’s separation from India.

The top court’s order was welcomed by Kashmiri leaders.

Lawmaker Sajad Lone called the decision “good news,” expressing hope that Shah could return home to recover his health.

Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also urged courts to extend relief to other political prisoners from the region.

“We fervently hope that the courts in the same spirit give relief to all political prisoners and youth languishing in jails inside and outside Jammu and Kashmir, bringing cheer to their families and the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Farooq said on US social media company X.