New Delhi, March 12 (H.S.): The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the NIA while hearing the interim bail petition filed by MP Engineer Rashid to participate in the parliamentary session in a terror funding case. The bench of Justice Pratibha Singh has scheduled the next hearing on the interim bail petition for March 18.
Senior Advocate N. Hariharan, representing Engineer Rashid, stated that Rashid had previously sought permission to participate in the parliamentary session, but the court had only granted permission for two days. Hariharan mentioned that the parliamentary session would continue until April 4. Engineer Rashid is an MP from Baramulla, which constitutes 45 percent of the total population of Jammu and Kashmir. He argued that such a large population should not be left unrepresented. He demanded that Engineer Rashid be released on custody parole.
During the hearing, Akshay Malik, senior Advicate representing the NIA, stated that the High Court had previously granted custody parole when no court was appointed for hearing this case. Now a special court has been designated for this matter. The trial court has reserved its decision on Engineer Rashid’s regular bail, and the verdict is scheduled to be pronounced on March 19. The court instructed the NIA to file its response by March 17 and set the next date of hearing for March 18.
Engineer Rashid has appealed to the High Court against the Patiala House Court’s decision, which denied him interim bail to attend the parliamentary session starting March 10. As an MP, Rashid claims he must fulfill his duties to his constituents, especially during the critical budget session that runs until April 4. He previously defeated Omar Abdullah by 100,000 votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Rashid was arrested by the NIA in 2016, which later sought to frame charges against Hafiz Saeed and others for terrorism-related activities linked to groups supported by Pakistan’s ISI, involving financial conspiracies and violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
