Delhi court grants interim bail to Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted interim bail till October 2 to newly elected Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid -- popularly known as Engineer Rashid -- in a terror funding case to enable him to campaign in the ensuing Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election.
Rashid defeated former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Baramulla.
The order came from Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh on Rashid’s petition seeking interim bail to campaign in the Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections.
Jammu and Kashmir assembly has 119 seats, including 24 seats reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and five nominated members. Elections for 90 seats are scheduled to be held in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1. Counting of votes will take place on October 8.
Rashid has been in jail since 2019 after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror funding case. On July 5, the court had granted Rashid custody parole to take the oath as a member of the Lok Sabha. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail.
The court will pronounce its order on his regular bail application on Wednesday.
Rashid's name figured in the case during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in Kashmir.
The NIA had filed a charge sheet against several accused, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in the case.
Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Reacting to the court order, party leader Prince Parvaiz said, “We are happy with the court decision and welcome it.”
The Awami Ittehad Party had recently moved the court seeking 45-day parole for Engineer Rashid so that he could campaign during the Assembly poll.
