Fahad Shah, 36, founder and editor of the Srinagar-based news magazine and portal The Kashmir Walla, is likely to be released this week, days after the Jammu & Kashmir High Court came down heavily on the administration for invoking various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against him and granted him bail.
However, the news magazine Mr. Shah founded in 2009 has no physical or virtual address anymore. According to a statement issued by the magazine, its portal and social media handles were shut down, and its staff members were forced to evict their office in August this year.
“Our Facebook page – with nearly half a million followers – had been removed. As had our Twitter account, ‘in response to a legal demand’. In tandem with this move, we have also been served an eviction notice by the landlord of our office in Srinagar and are in the process of evicting the office,” the statement read.
A former staff member of the magazine, where the editorial staff has been pruned from 13 members to six over the past year, said, “We were not served any notice banning The Kashmir Walla. But the actions were hints enough. Since August, we have not published a single word. It was ensured that The Kashmir Walla does not exist,” he added.
“This opaque censorship is gut-wrenching,” the portal said in its statement in August. “There isn’t a lot left for us to say. Since 2011, The Kashmir Walla has strived to remain an independent, credible, and courageous voice of the region in the face of unimaginable pressure from the authorities,” it added.
‘Release imminent’
Meanwhile, a close associate of Mr. Shah, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, “His family is in Jammu to complete the necessary legal formalities. We are hopeful of his release this week.”
Since his arrest on February 4, 2022, for a report on an encounter in Pulwama, Mr. Shah has been arrested in four other cases, mostly related to the magazine’s reportage. He has been granted bail in a total of four cases by separate courts.
In October last year, Mr. Shah and scholar Aala Fazili were booked under the UAPA in a “narrative terrorism” case for a write-up published 12 years ago, which the police alleged was aimed at “spreading terrorism and creating a false narrative”.
Mr. Shah, who has been in jail for the past 21 months, was granted bail earlier this week by a two-judge Bench of the J&K High Court.
While paving the way for his release, Justices Mohan Lal and Atul Sreedharan also came down heavily on Additional Advocate Generals Monika Kohli and Mohsin Qadri.
“We are of the opinion that prima facie, the offence under Section 18 of the UAPA (pertaining to conspiracy) is not made out as the act of the appellant [Mr. Shah] does not come within the definition of Section 15 of the UAPA (act of terror), as prima facie, there is no material to suggest that the article hosted by the appellant has any content that provokes people to take to arms and resort to violence,” the Bench observed.
The court also quashed Section 121 of the IPC (waging war against the country).
“We are of the opinion that the material on record does not disclose the commission of the offence of waging war against the government of India. As regards the offence under Section 153-B IPC (promoting enmity between different groups) is concerned, the offending article does not attempt to bring about disaffection on the basis of caste or religion,” it said.
‘’No evidence’
It added that since the magazine published the article in 2011, “No evidence has been brought on record that the offending article was responsible for provoking persons to take to militancy. Not a single witness says this”.
However, the court held there was “sufficient material” against Mr. Shah to face a trial under Section 13 of the UAPA (unlawful activities) and for the offences under Sections 35 and 39 of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which deal with receiving funds from abroad illegally.
Granting bail to Mr. Shah, Justices Lal and Sreedharan underlined that at the initial stage of a probe, an arrest may be justifiable for the purpose of investigation and unravelling the crime.
“However, once the police have no further need of the accused in the investigation and the accused is in judicial custody, then the question arises if he ought to be enlarged on bail or be held back as an undertrial. This is where the dictum of ‘bail and not jail’ comes into play. If the court is of the opinion that post investigation, there is no reasonable cause to detain the accused in judicial custody, then bail is the rule,” the Bench observed.
Meanwhile, Sajad Gul, who worked briefly as a trainee reporter at the magazine, was also released last week. Mr. Gul, arrested in January 2022, was jailed under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in Uttar Pradesh.
