Jailed Kashmiri Leader Engineer Rashid To Take Oath As MP On July 5; Court Grants 2-Hour Custody Parole

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

Jailed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, will take oath as a Lok Sabha MP on July 5 (Friday) after a Delhi court granted two-hour custody to the former Jammu and Kashmir MLA on Tuesday.

Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh granted custody parole to Engineer Rashid for two hours on July 5 to enable him to take oath. A detailed order on the ruling is awaited.

On Monday, National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not object to the Rashid plea for a parole to take oath as Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha. However, the NIA’s counsel, said Rashid’s oath-taking should be subject to certain conditions such as not speaking to the media and completing all formalities within a day.

Engineer Rashid, a former MLA in the erstwhile state Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Delhi’s Tihar jail and scored a shocking win from the Baramulla seat as an independent candidate by defeating National Conference leader Omar Abdullah.

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

The former MLA had had moved the court seeking interim bail, or custody parole in the alternative, to take oath and perform his parliamentary functions. On June 22, a special court had adjourned the matter and asked the NIA to file its response.

While Rashid’s counsel had cited AAP leader Sanjay Singh being granted custody parole to take oath as a Rajya Sabha MP, the court noted that Rashid’s charges were different.

His name surfaced during the probe of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested for allegedly financing terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir Valley.

The NIA had earlier filed a chargesheet against several individuals, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in connection with the 2017 terror-funding case.

(With PTI inputs)