Delhi court fixes June 18 for Engineer Rashid’s interim bail plea to take oath as MP

New Delhi: A Delhi court has fixed June 18 to hear arguments on an application filed by Engineer Rashid, arrested in a 2016 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, seeking interim bail to take oath as an MP after the recently concluded general elections.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, defeated J-K former chief minister Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Rashid contested as an independent candidate to defeat the National Conference (NC) vice president.

He is also a former MLA of the Union Territory.

Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh fixed the matter for June 18 after the NIA sought time to file reply to Rashid’s application.

The NIA further submitted on June 7 that the notification for the oath of newly elected members of Parliament of Lok Sabha was not published yet.

The judge adjourned the matter, adding that if the notification for the ceremony comes before the next date, the accused may move the court with a plea to expedite the matter.

Rashid had moved the court seeking interim bail, or custody parole in the alternative, to take oath and perform his parliamentary functions.

He has been in jail since 2019 after he was charged by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention), 1967 Act (UAPA) in the alleged terror funding case. He is lodged in Tihar jail at present.

The former MLA’s name cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who the NIA had arrested for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the valley.

The NIA had filed a charge sheet against several individuals, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in the case.

Malik was awarded life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges.