Supreme Court Seeks NIA Response on Bail Plea in Dawood Ibrahim Gang Case

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a bail plea filed by a man accused of helping the gang led by terrorist Dawood Ibrahim extort money and move funds through hawala routes [Shabbir Abubakar Shaikh v. National Investigation Agency].A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) response to a plea filed by Shabbir Abubakar Shaikh challenging a Bombay High Court order that refused him bail.Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep MehtaThe NIA alleges that Shaikh acted on instructions from Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel and helped extort ₹16 crores from a protected witness between 2008 and 2018. It also claims he received ₹25 lakhs through hawala routes in April 2022, kept ₹5 lakhs and passed the remaining ₹20 lakhs to another accused. The agency alleges that the money was intended for terrorist and criminal activities.Shaikh disputes his alleged links to the gang and denies that the money was meant for terrorism. He has also challenged the application of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA) to his case.A special NIA court rejected his bail plea in December 2024. The Bombay High Court upheld that decision on April 15, 2026, finding that the material prima facie indicated a link between Shaikh and the alleged organised crime syndicate.Shaikh then approached the Supreme Court.Advocate Mehmood Pracha, appearing for Shaikh, told the Court that his client had been in custody for more than four yea