The Delhi High Court on Friday (August 8, 2025) granted bail to a son of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, while the other refused to give relief in the funding case of terrorists.

The bench of Justice Naveen Chawla and Justice Shailinder Kaur rejected the bail plea of Salahuddin’s son Shahid Yusuf, saying that the court cannot ignore the large conspiracy brought by the prosecution. Considering the allegations of the prosecution of the use of hawala channels to bring terrorist funds to Jammu and Kashmir, the court said that Joseph was allegedly part of the network.

What did the High Court say in its order?

The order said that he had allegedly received money from co-accused Ejaz Ahmed Bhat alias Ejaz Maqbool Bhat, knowing that this money would be used to carry forward terrorist activities. The High Court said that the possibility of Yusuf could not be ruled out, especially given that it had previously traveled on a passport with allegedly fake parents and later destroyed the document.

The bench said that there is every possibility of tampering with evidence and impressing the witnesses. Giving bail to Syed Ahmed Shakeel, the court said that he has already been pronounced 6.11 years long and there is no certainty that the case will end within the appropriate time. The court said that the main basis of prosecution against Shakeel was money, not its use for any terrorist activity.

Shakeel was arrested in 2011

The bench said, “Keeping in mind the role submitted to the appellant (Shakeel), keeping the appellant into custody at this level will not fulfill the objectives of justice. He was granted a bail on personal bonds of one lakh rupees and two superiors of the same amount. The NIA arrested Shakeel from his residence in Srinagar on August 30, 2018 in a 2011 terrorist funding case.

According to the NIA, this case is related to transfer of money through hawala by Pakistan-based terrorists. This criminal conspiracy was hatched in India with some operatives to promote separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and provide them funds.

Yusuf was arrested in October 2017 for receiving money from abroad from Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and a charge sheet was filed against him in 2018. Shakeel was accused of receiving funds from the Western Union from the absconding accused Ejaz Ahmed Bhat and his name was also revealed in raising, receiving and gathering money from the terrorist organization through Saudi Arabia activists. Syed Salahuddin, who is declared a global terrorist by the US, is a self-proclaimed commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

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