Delhi High Court Deliberates on Engineer Rashid's Bail Request
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Synopsis
The Delhi High Court has reserved its judgment on Engineer Rashid's plea for interim bail or custody parole to attend Parliament. Rashid, facing severe allegations, seeks participation in the Budget session while his bail application is pending.
Key Takeaways
- Delhi High Court reserves verdict on Engineer Rashid's bail plea.
- Rashid was elected from J&K’s Baramulla constituency.
- He is implicated in a terror funding case under NIA investigation.
- Rashid's plea includes attendance at the ongoing Parliament session.
- NIA opposes the interim bail request due to security concerns.
New Delhi, Feb 7 (NationPress) The Delhi High Court has reserved its verdict on a petition submitted by Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid, who is seeking interim bail or, alternatively, custody parole, to participate in the ongoing Parliament session.
Engineer Rashid, who secured victory in the Lok Sabha elections from J&K’s Baramulla constituency, defeating National Conference Vice President and current Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, by over two lakh votes while being incarcerated in Tihar Jail, is implicated in a terror funding case under investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A bench led by Justice Vikas Mahajan has reserved its ruling following the oral submissions made by both the NIA's counsel and Engineer Rashid’s attorney.
Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the NIA, emphasized that there are security concerns and that custody parole is not an inherent right of a legislator.
“He (Rashid) is an elected Member of Parliament. What would be the challenge in sending him in custody? Return tomorrow with instructions,” commented Justice Mahajan’s Bench on Thursday, as they requested the NIA’s position on the matter.
Engineer Rashid has approached the Delhi High Court seeking directions for the trial court judge to expedite a decision on his pending regular bail application or to decide the matter independently.
Previously, a court opted not to rule on the application for regular bail and advised that his case be transferred to the MP/MLA court, following Rashid's election as an MP.
In his application pending before the Delhi HC, he is requesting interim bail to attend the ongoing Budget session of Parliament, which commenced on January 31 and is set to conclude on April 4.
If interim bail is not granted, Engineer Rashid has requested custody parole to enable his attendance at the Parliament session.
The NIA has opposed Engineer Rashid’s plea for interim bail.
On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court called for a response from its registry regarding the appropriate court designation to hear Rashid’s bail plea. The NIA’s counsel indicated that in November last year, the agency had communicated with the registry about recognizing the NIA court as the appropriate venue for cases involving lawmakers, prompting the Justice Mahajan-led Bench to issue a notice to the Registrar General for clarification and reschedule the hearing for February 6.
During the Thursday hearing, the counsel for the Registrar General noted that an application had been submitted to the Supreme Court seeking clarification on court designation, with the matter expected to be mentioned before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Friday for urgent consideration.
Engineer Rashid was apprehended by the NIA in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also initiated a money laundering case against him and others based on the NIA's FIR, accusing them of conspiring to instigate conflict against the government and inciting unrest in the Valley. Engineer Rashid has represented the Langate Assembly constituency in J&K on two occasions. His brother, Sheikh Khurshid Ahmad, won the 2024 Assembly election from Langate.
