NIA Court Orders Attachment of US-based Kashmiri Lobbyist Fai’s Property in Budgam
The order was issued after the court declared him an absconder in a 2020 case registered under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967
Srinagar: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district has ordered the attachment of over 1.5 kanals of land belonging to US‑based Kashmiri lobbyist Ghulam Nabi Shah, widely known as Dr. Fai. The order was issued after the court declared him an absconder in a 2020 case registered under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967.
Special Judge Yahaya Firdous passed the order following an application filed by Assistant Public Prosecutor Mohammad Iqbal Rather under Section 83 of the Criminal Procedure Code—now Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The prosecution argued that Fai had deliberately concealed himself and failed to appear before the investigating agency despite repeated notices.
In its directive, the court ordered the District Collector of Budgam to immediately attach and take possession of one kanal and two marlas of land under Khewat No. 60, Survey No. 466 in Wadwan village, and eleven marlas of land under Khewat No. 136, Survey No. 343 in Chattabugh village. 1.5 kanals of land is roughly equivalent to 8,200 square feet.
The court further instructed the collector to identify and demarcate the property with the assistance of revenue authorities. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Budgam has been directed to provide any necessary support during the attachment process.
The attachment pertains to FIR No. 46/2020, registered at Police Station Budgam under Sections 10, 13, and 39 of the UAPA. Fai was declared a proclaimed absconder on April 26, 2025, after he repeatedly evaded summons and avoided arrest.
Fai, originally from Wadwan in Budgam, migrated to the United States in the early 1980s and became a US citizen in 1990. He is the founder of the Washington‑based Kashmir American Council and currently serves as Secretary General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum and Chairman of the World Forum for Peace & Justice.
In 2011, Fai and Pakistani‑American Zaheer Ahmad were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. The FBI charged him with conspiracy for lobbying the US government on Kashmir without disclosing funding from Pakistan’s government and its intelligence agency, the ISI. He was accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent and concealing the transfer of USD 3.5 million meant to influence US policy on Kashmir.
Fai pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion, and, in March 2012, he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment by a US court for "conspiracy to defraud the US." India had welcomed the sentencing, saying it was long overdue. The Union Home Ministry had said that it had a fair degree of suspicion that the money which Fai received was given by the agencies in Pakistan.
However, Fai was released from a Maryland federal correctional institution in November 2013 after an assistant US attorney who had prosecuted him asked the court to reduce his sentence to 16 months-time served and the motion was granted by the original sentencing judge.
