New Delhi- Jailed Hurriyat leader Altaf Ahmad Shah died of cancer at the AIIMS here on Tuesday, a few days after he was taken to the hospital on the orders of the Delhi High Court.
Altaf Shah, popularly known as ‘Altaf Fantosh’ was a son-in- law and close aide of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, one of Kashmir’s top separatists, who died on September 1 last year.
Shah, was 66 and is survived by his wife, son and two daughters.
The Hurriyat leader was arrested in 2017 with six others in a terror funding case and was lodged at the Tihar jail.
Shah’s body was handed over to family members by the hospital after necessary formalities and it is being taken to Srinagar for last rites.
He had been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital here after he was diagnosed with the disease, and last week, was moved to AIIMS following the intervention of the Delhi High Court.
On October 3, the court, while ordering his shifting to AIIMS, had said “suitable treatment is the part of fundamental right as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution”.
Once considered heir apparent to Geelani, Shah had slipped into coma late on Monday evening before being pronounced dead during the intervening night.
An inconsolable Ruwa Shah, who was fighting her father’s case, told PTI: “We were informed about abu’s (Shah) passing away late last night.”
On Tuesday evening, she said that the body has been handed over to family members after completion of necessary formalities and they are on their way home to complete the last rites.
Shah’s body was embalmed at AIIMS before it was transported to the airport in police escort.
In a tweet, Ruwa Shah said, “Abu (father) breathed his last at AIIMS, New Delhi. As a prisoner.”
Over the past few days, Ruwa Shah had posted a series of tweets about her father’s deteriorating condition. She had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to release him on health grounds, so that he could “die a free man”.
Shah, a resident of Srinagar’s Soura locality, was arrested on July 25, 2017, in the case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
His counsel had told the court he was receiving treatment for certain serious ailments at the RML hospital but it was recently revealed he was suffering from the last stage of renal cancer.
While claiming the RML hospital does not have adequate facilities to treat renal cancer, the counsel prayed he should be allowed to be shifted to AIIMS or Apollo Hospital for urgent treatment.
Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, without going into the merits of the case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, said the right to have adequate and suitable treatment was the part of the fundamental rights under the Constitution and it was in the interest of justice that the petitioner receives treatment at AIIMS.
In an order dated October 3, the high court, said the medical record submitted on behalf of the petitioner reflects that the petitioner is suffering from various ailments. The petitioner is also diagnosed with renal cancer although there is no such medical document submitted on behalf of the petitioner, it said.
“However, without going into the merits of the case as the right to have adequate and suitable treatment is the part of fundamental right as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution and after considering the totality of the circumstances and in the interest of justice it is ordered that the petitioner be shifted to AIIMS, Delhi for appropriate treatment under the judicial custody and direct supervision of the concerned jail superintendent and after following all necessary security measures,” the court said.
The NIA, after arresting Shah, had filed a charge sheet against him and 11 others, including Lashker-e-Taiba chief Hafeez Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen head Syed Salahuddin, in a case related to alleged funding of terror and secessionist activities in the Kashmir Valley in January 2018.
He had since been facing trial in a special NIA court.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti meanwhile reacted to Shah’s death on Tuesday alleging that while criminals and rapists are released and felicitated, political prisoners or those against whom there are no solid cases are not released on bail even on health grounds.
“Under this government, criminals, rapists, are not only released from jail, but they are welcomed and felicitated,” she said.
“But political prisoners or those against whom there are no solid cases are not given bail even on health grounds so that people like Altaf Shah who was critical could spend last moments with his family,” the PDP chief said. (With inputs from PTI)
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