Delhi court rejects custody parole plea of J&K MP Engineer Rashid

A Delhi court on Monday, 10 March, rejected the plea of jailed Jammu and Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid seeking custody parole to attend the upcoming Parliament session.

Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh dismissed the plea and posted the order on Rashid's regular bail plea on 19 March.

A detailed order is awaited.

On 3 March, the court asked the NIA to respond to the plea, following which it reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments.

The application, filed by advocate Vikhyat Oberoi for Rashid on 27 February, sought the relief on the grounds that Rashid was a parliamentarian and needed to attend the upcoming session to fulfil his public duty.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, defeated chief minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Baramulla.

Rashid's regular bail application is currently pending before the court.

The second part of Parliament's Budget session would begin on 10 March and end on 4 April.

The judge on 10 September granted interim bail to Rashid to enable him to campaign for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Rashid surrendered himself before Tihar Jail on 27 October.

Rashid has been lodged in Tihar jail since 2019 after he was arrested by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a 2017 terror funding case.

Elections to the 90-member J-K assembly were held in three phases from 18 September to 1 October. The results were declared on 8 October in which the National Conference-Congress alliance attained a clear majority with 48 seats.

The Delhi High Court on 24 February directed the sessions judge to expeditiously decide the bail plea of Rashid in the case.

The high court passed the directions in view of a 24 December 2024 order, by which the sessions court requested the district judge to transfer the case to a court designated to try lawmakers.

Rashid's name cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir Valley.

The NIA filed a chargesheet against several persons, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in the case.

Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges.