Court to consider NIA report on Liyaqat on September 21

A court here on Thursday fixed September 21 for considering a report filed by the NIA giving a clean chit to Sayyed Liyaqat Shah alias Liyaqat Bukhari who was arrested by Delhi Police for coming to India for allegedly executing terror attacks here in March 2013.

According to court sources, Patiala House Courts District Judge Amar Nath, during an in-camera proceedings, deferred the hearing for September 21.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) supplied a copy of chargesheet with documents to Shah.

The court also allowed Shah's application seeking permanent exemption on the ground that he is poor and unable to travel frequently from Kashmir to Delhi for attending hearings.

Shah's defence counsel Asim Ali told court that his client earned his livelihood working as a labourer and had to take care of a five-member family.

The NIA on January 24 dropped charges against Shah in a chargesheet filed against Sabir Khan Pathan, alleging that he was responsible for the placement of weapons and explosives in a guest house room near the Jama Masjid here.

Delhi Police alleged that on the basis of his disclosure statement, a Special Cell team raided the Haji Arafat Guest House and recovered arms, ammunition and explosives.

The NIA filed a chargesheet against Pathan under charges dealing with forgery and various section of the Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act. Pathan is on the run.

Shah was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell on March 20, 2013 while he was returning from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the Kashmir Valley via Nepal. He was later released on bail.

Jammu and Kashmir Police had protested the arrest, saying Shah was returning home as per the state government's policy of allowing people who had exfiltrated to PoK in the early 1990s to return.