Mumbai, June 20: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday rejected the petition filed by the counsel of Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, seeking the disclosure of reports filed against him by the National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate. The bench also dismissed Naik's plea appealing to the court to order the Ministry of External Affairs to cancel the revocation of his passport.

The bench of Justices RM Savant and Revati Mohite-Dere cited Naik's non-cooperation as the reason behind not entertaining his plea seeking the NIA and ED documents filed against him.

"The petitioner is ensconced in Malaysia...such long distance thing will not work," the court said, further adding, "We do not see how this court can consider them (his appeals) when the petitioner has not even presented himself before the probe agencies."

On his plea seeking the nullification of MEA order revoking his passport, the court told his counsel to file a separate petition.

Naik, a noted televangelist known for preaching the Salafi doctrine of Islam, came under the radar of Indian investigating agencies after he was accused of motivating the terrorists involved in the 2016 Dhaka terror attack through his speeches. One of the terrorists involved in the attack had shared an image of Naik on his Facebook wall, before turning into an absconder.

The NIA has also accused Naik of ideologically indoctrinating two youths from Kerala who were part of the 20-member group which left for West Asia region in a bid to join the Islamic State (ISIS).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 20, 2018 05:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).