Srinagar: Senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader and Democratic Freedom Party president, Shabbir Ahmad Shah has been shifted from Kot Bhalwal jail, Jammu, to New Delhi on a notice issued by the National Investigation Agency, today.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the NIA, however, today directed Shabbir Shah to appear before its court in New Delhi and he was subsequently transferred from Kot Bhalwal Jail to the Indian capital city.

The development came as Shah was expected to be released in a old fake case of the draconian law, today. The NIA again summoning him to Delhi is reported that he could be lodged again in Tihar Jail in New Delhi.

Shah, who has remained behind bars in various fake cases for years, was granted bail by the Indian Supreme Court in March 2026 in a 2017 fake case after the prolonged delay in the trial. He nevertheless remained in custody because of other pending cases.

Shah was first arrested in 1968 as a teenager for participating in peaceful demonstrations advocating for the right to self-determination for Kashmir. In the early 1990s, Amnesty International recognized him as a Prisoner of Conscience due to his prolonged detentions over political views without formal criminal convictions.

Supporters and human rights advocates note that his cumulative years in confinement span roughly 32 to 35+ years of his life, earning him descriptions in regional media such as the “Nelson Mandela of Kashmir”.

Shah was arrested again in 2017 by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a fake funding case, reports indicated prolonged trial delays, though legal challenges regarding his detention status have continued through courts.

The prolonged incarceration of the senior Hurriyat leader has also drawn concern from his party. The DFP has repeatedly said that successive cases and legal proceedings are being used to prolong his detention