Delhi HC allows Engineer Rashid to attend Parliament
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed J&K MP Engineer Rashid to attend the ongoing Budget Session proceedings.
The second half of the Budget Session began on March 10 and will conclude on April 4.
Engineer Rashid, who won the Lok Sabha election from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency by defeating National Conference Vice President, and now Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah by over two lakh votes while he remained lodged in Tihar Jail, is accused in a terror funding case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A bench of Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Anup Jairam Bhambhani on Tuesday reserved its decision after hearing the oral arguments advanced by the counsel representing the anti-terror agency and Engineer Rashid’s lawyer.
Engineer Rashid has petitioned the Delhi High Court against the March 10 order passed by the special NIA court denying him custody parole. In his petition, the Lok Sabha member called the city court’s order “erroneous”.
Issuing notice on the plea, the Delhi HC had sought NIA’s response on his release on custody parole and told the federal anti-terror agency to file objections, if any, before March 17.
Earlier, a single-judge Bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan had granted custody parole to Engineer Rashid for February 11 and 13 to attend Parliament while imposing a slew of conditions.
Following the Delhi High Court order, the J&K MP attended the Parliament session amid heavy police security.
As per the Justice Mahajan-led Bench order, Engineer Rashid was directed not to interact with any person except for his limited responsibility of attending the House and not to address the media in any manner.
In November last year, a court here, instead of passing an order on the application for regular bail, had recommended that the District Judge transfer his case to the MP/MLA court, as Engineer Rashid had become an MP.
Thereafter, Engineer Rashid moved the Delhi High Court, seeking directions to the trial court judge to expedite a decision on his pending regular bail application or decide the matter itself. Following the Supreme Court’s clarification on the issue of designation of a court, the Delhi High Court ordered the special NIA court to decide Engineer Rashid’s bail plea.
Last week, the Patiala House court in Delhi rejected Engineer Rashid’s regular bail plea filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Additional District Judge, Chander Jit Singh pronounced the decision in the court saying: “The bail plea dismissed”.