Rashid granted 2-day custody parole to attend Parliament
Rashid, who has been in custody since 2019 in connection with a terror funding case, had sought interim bail or custody parole to represent his constituency in Parliament.
New Delhi The Delhi high court on Monday granted two days of custody parole to Jammu and Kashmir parliamentarian Rashid Engineer, allowing him to attend the ongoing Parliament budget session on February 11 and 13.
There is no sitting of the House on February 12 on account of Guru Ravidas Jayanti. The first leg of the budget session will adjourn on February 13 and will resume on March 10.
Rashid, who has been in custody since 2019 in connection with a terror funding case, had sought interim bail or custody parole to represent his constituency in Parliament.
While granting limited relief, Justice Vikas Mahajan noted that Rashid did not have an enforceable right to attend the Parliament session. However, the court acknowledged that the MP had been left remediless due to the absence of a forum to adjudicate his bail application.
“It is luminously clear that the petitioner does not have any enforceable right to attend the Parliament session. If access to justice is a facet of fundamental rights, then non-availability of a forum for disposal of the applicant’s application for bail, either interim or regular, renders the petitioner remediless for the time being, and concomitantly deprives him of the aforesaid right,” justice Mahajan stated.
The court, in its 16-page order, emphasised that balancing competing interests and rights was necessary. “This being the position, it is deemed appropriate that in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case, this Court would not completely negate the petitioner’s plea for custody parole to attend the Parliamentary session for the remaining two days on 11.02.2025 and 13.02.2025,” it added.
Rashid’s bail plea has remained in limbo due to jurisdictional issues. In August last year, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Chander Jit Singh, designated to hear National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases, reserved the verdict on Rashid’s bail plea but later placed the matter before the principal district and sessions judge for directions in November. This step was taken in light of Rashid’s election as a member of Parliament from Baramulla in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
On December 23, ASJ Singh once again refused to pass an order on Rashid’s bail plea, citing lack of jurisdiction. Meanwhile, in November, NIA urged the high court’s registrar general to designate the NIA court as the MP/MLA court, leading to an application being moved before the Supreme Court for clarification. The trial proceedings have since been at a standstill.
Rashid Engineer was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2019. NIA alleges that Rashid and others used illicit funds to fuel unrest and separatism in Jammu and Kashmir. The agency further claims that terror groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, collaborated with Pakistan’s ISI to orchestrate attacks on civilians and security forces.
Represented by senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, special public prosecutor Akshai Malik, and advocate Khawar Saleem, NIA opposed Rashid’s plea. They argued that he had no enforceable right to attend Parliament while in lawful detention. The agency argued that allowing Rashid to participate in the session on custody parole was a matter to be decided by the jail authorities and the secretary general of the Lok Sabha, considering security and procedural norms.
The court, however, allowed Rashid two days of custody parole, with conditions that he would remain in the custody of jail authorities with adequate police security while traveling to and from Parliament. He is prohibited from using telecommunication devices or the internet and is restricted from interacting with anyone except for his limited responsibilities as an MP. Additionally, he is barred from speaking to the media.