Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah, who was granted bail in a terrorism case by the J&K high court last week, returned home on Thursday, November 23, after spending nearly two years in jail.
Shah was arrested by the State Investigation Agency of J&K Police on terrorism charges for publishing an article in his news outlet The Kashmir Walla in 2011.
The outlet was also banned under the provisions of the Information Technology Act earlier this year.
However, the high court struck down the charges of terror conspiracy and waging war against the country filed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967 against Shah while linking the publication of the controversial article to the freedom of speech and expression.
A division bench of the high court observed that invoking charges of terrorism against Shah for an 11-year-old article “collide(s) head long with the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution.”
In a tweet, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that it welcomed the release of Shah while urging the authorities to lift the ban on The Kashmir Walla.
This article was published on www.thewire.in, it was republished with permission.