Overview

• Shabir Shah, 74, incarcerated in Tihar Jail, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is facing urgent surgery as his health deteriorates.
• The Delhi High Court on June 12 denied his bail plea, citing involvement in secession-related offenses and leaving him in custody during treatment.
• Judicial orders have barred Shah’s family from attending his medical treatment or contacting him by phone for over two years, according to his daughter Sehar and family sources.
• Political figures Mehbooba Mufti, Sajad Lone and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have appealed to Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan for humanitarian intervention and home custody provisions.
• Shah’s prolonged detention—including his 2017 arrest by the Enforcement Directorate and a 2023 ban on his Democratic Freedom Party—raises broader questions about due process for political prisoners.