Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid seeks interim bail to attend Parliament session

The Delhi high court on Thursday sought the NIA’s stand on a plea by jailed Jammu and Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid for interim bail in a terror-funding case to attend Parliament. Justice Vikas Mahajan, posting the hearing next week, said, “Let the needful be done before the next date of hearing.” Rashid said he wished to attend the upcoming budget session of Parliament, which begins on January 31 and concludes on April 4. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the NIA, said he would seek instructions on the issue.

Rashid was elected from the Baramulla constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror-funding case. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In the alternative, Rashid’s plea sought custody parole during the budget session. The plea forms part of his pending petition over grant of bail in the case by the NIA. His main petition urges the high court to either direct the expeditious disposal of his pending bail plea by the trial court or decide the matter itself. Rashid’s lawyer had said the MP was left without any redressal as the court hearing the bail plea “suddenly” took the view that it could not hear his case and the MP/MLA court did not have the jurisdiction to hear cases probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).