New Delhi: A city court is likely to pronounce its verdict tomorrow on a plea moved by Baramulla Member of Parliament (MP) Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, seeking regular bail in a 2017 terror funding case.
Court earlier reserved order on Rashid’s plea seeking regular bail
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Chander Jit Singh earlier had reserved verdict on Rashid’s bail plea after hearing the arguments.
The court had earlier on August 20 issued a notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and sought its response to Rashid’s plea seeking regular bail in the terror funding case.
Rashid won from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 general elections
Rashid contested from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in the recent parliamentary elections while being in judicial custody in Delhi’s Tihar Jail and defeated his nearest rival Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Court earlier allowed custody parole to Rashid for two hours to enable him to take oath as an MP
Rashid had also moved the court after winning the Lok Sabha seat from the Baramulla parliamentary constituency seeking interim bail, or custody parole in the alternative, to take oath as an MP and perform his parliamentary functions. The court had allowed custody parole to him for two hours on July 5 to enable him to take oath as an MP on his plea.
Rashid is currently lodged in Tihar Jail
Rashid is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in judicial custody in an alleged 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He has been in the Tihar jail since 2019 after he was charged by the NIA under the provisions of UAPA in the alleged terror funding case.
The NIA has filed a charge sheet in the terror funding case case before a court in the national capital against several persons, including Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. The trial court awarded Malik life imprisonment in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
