Delhi HC seeks NIA stand onEr Rashid’s interim bail plea

Baramulla MP to go on hunger strike in Tihar jail from Saturday, says his constituency unrepresented in Parliament

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).

During the hearing, Luthra said the high court administration filed a plea before the Supreme Court for a clarification on the issue. He opposed the maintainability of the writ petition, saying Rashid ought to have filed an appeal instead, and he had no “right” in law to attend Parliament only because he was an MP now.

“We have to find a solution to this. MP/MLA court can’t be a special judge (for NIA). There is a statute,” the court said. Justice Mahajan granted more time to NIA to file a response to the main petition.

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.

The ED filed a money laundering case against the accused persons on the basis of the NIA’s FIR, which accused them of “conspiring to wage war against the government” and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir valley.

Cases of the NIA and the ED also involve Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin and others.

At the same time, Engineer Rashid has announced an indefinite hunger strike from Tihar jail from Saturday, alleging that he is being denied the right to represent his constituency in the Parliament, his party informed. In his letter addressed to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, he stated, “I have the right to know why people’s mandate is being constantly ignored and disrespected. It’s a mockery of democracy.”

Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief spokesperson Inam un Nabi said that in solidarity with the MP, the party would hold a hunger strike at Srinagar’s Press Colony on Friday.

“The MP’s decision to go on an indefinite hunger strike in jail is a desperate yet dignified response to the injustice he continues to face. We urge the authorities to respect democracy and allow him to fulfill his duties as an elected MP,” he said.