New Delhi Aug 27 (IANS): Patiala House Court on Tuesday ordered the release of senior Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah in the money laundering case connected to terror funding.

Additional sessions judge, Dheeraj Mor of Patiala House court passed an order for Shah’s release after noting that he has undergone the maximum sentence of seven years prescribed for the offence under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The judge noted that Shah has been in continuous custody for more than seven years and he should, therefore, be released.

Shabir Shah was born in the Kadipora area of Anantnag on June 14, 1953. He is the founder and president of the Democratic Freedom Party which stands for the right of self-determination for the people of J&K.

He was arrested in 2017 and has been in custody since then.

He is one of the most prominent separatist leaders of Kashmir although he is personally not known to have picked up the gun.

Despite his proclaimed peaceful anti-India exterior, Shabir Shah has been an ideologue of many youths in Kashmir who resorted to violence by wielding guns.