Rashid Engineer gets court relief to attend Parliament: ‘No mobile, internet, media interaction’

Delhi High Court said that Rashid would be escorted by police and imposed conditions, including a ban on speaking to the media.

The Delhi High Court granted two days' custody parole to North Kashmir's Lok Sabha MP Rashid Engineer on Monday in a terror funding case, allowing him to attend the ongoing Parliament budget session.

Rashid Engineer is an independent lawmaker from Baramulla.(HT_PRINT)

A bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan allowed Rashid Engineer to attend Parliament on February 11 and 13. The court said that he would be escorted by police and imposed conditions, including a ban on using phones, the internet, and speaking to the media or anyone else.

The also court ruled that Rashid Engineer would be ferried to the Lok Sabha and back, with security arrangements inside Parliament to be determined in consultation with the secretary general.

The court reserved its decision on his custody parole request on February 7.

Rashid approached the High Court, claiming that the NIA court left him in a legal limbo following his election to the Lok Sabha last year, as it did not have the authority to deal with MPs/MLAs. He sought interim custody parole.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocate Akshai Malik, representing the NIA, opposed the request, arguing that Rashid had no inherent right to attend Parliament and had not provided a clear purpose for the parole.

Luthra raised security concerns, noting that allowing Rashid to enter Parliament would require a police escort, which posed complications due to restrictions on armed personnel within the premises.

He argued, “Custody parole is not a vested right of a parliamentarian,” pointing out that such requests are typically granted for personal reasons like marriage or bereavement.

On the other hand, senior advocate N Hariharan, with advocate Vikhyat Oberoi, argued that Rashid should be allowed to attend the session as his constituency lacked representation during a time when funds allocated to Jammu and Kashmir had decreased by ₹1,000 crore.

They referenced a previous case involving lawmaker Pappu Yadav, who was allowed to attend Parliament in 2009.

With PTI inputs