New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the pleas filed by two sons of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and others challenging the framing of charges against them in a terror funding case.

A bench comprising Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Manoj Jain rejected the appeals, holding that they were not maintainable. A detailed order is awaited.

The accused had moved the High Court against a 2021 trial court order which framed charges against them in the case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

According to the NIA, the case relates to the transfer of funds through hawala channels by Pakistan-based terrorists to Jammu and Kashmir as part of a criminal conspiracy aimed at financing secessionist and terrorist activities in the region.

Salahuddin’s son Shahid Yousuf was arrested in October 2017, while his other son, Syed Ahmad Shakeel, was arrested by the NIA on August 30, 2018 from his residence in Srinagar in connection with the case registered in 2011.

The agency has alleged that Yousuf received funds from Hizbul Mujahideen operatives based abroad and was subsequently charge-sheeted in 2018.

It further alleged that Shakeel received money through Western Union from absconding accused Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, and that his name surfaced during investigations into the raising, receiving and collection of funds for the banned terrorist organisation through cadres operating from Saudi Arabia.

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Syed Salahuddin, a Pakistan-based militant leader, is the self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and has been designated a global terrorist by the United States.