Delhi court defers Er Rashid's plea to attend Parliament

New Delhi, July 21: A Delhi court adjourned to July 22 its order on Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid's plea to attend the monsoon session of Parliament which began today.

Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh on Monday adjourned the plea of the Baramulla MP, who sought either interim bail or custody parole, to carry out his duty as a parliamentarian.

The court had reserved its verdict on the plea on July 15.

Custody parole entails a prisoner being escorted by armed police personnel to the plea.

Rashid's counsel Vikhyat Oberoi had submitted his client should be allowed to attend the parliamentary session by granting interim bail.

In the alternative, Rashid could be allowed custody parole, without payment of travel costs, he added.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed the plea, saying interim bail should not be granted and custody parole could be allowed only after payment of travel expenses.

Rashid has been lodged in Tihar jail since 2019 after he was arrested by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a 2017 terror funding case.

The Baramulla MP, who defeated Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is facing trial in the case for allegedly funding separatists and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the NIA's FIR, Rashid's name cropped up during the interrogation of businessman and co-accused Zahoor Watali.

After being chargesheeted in October 2019, a special NIA court framed charges against Rashid and others in March 2022 under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the government), and 124A (sedition) of IPC and for offences relating to terrorist acts and terror funding under UAPA.