Delhi court allows jailed MP Engineer Rashid to attend Parliament’s winter session

New Delhi: A Delhi court has allowed jailed Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid to attend the upcoming winter session of Parliament in custody on all dates.

Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma was hearing a plea seeking custody parole filed by advocate Vikhyat Oberoi on behalf of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid.

The judge, however, clarified that the travel cost is subject to the outcome of an appeal already pending in the Delhi High Court.

The petitioner’s lawyer had sought relief on the grounds that Rashid is a parliamentarian and needs to attend the upcoming winter session of Parliament from December 1 to fulfil his public duty.

Rashid defeated Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla.

The court had earlier granted Rashid custody parole between July 24 and August 4 to attend the monsoon session of Parliament.

It had also granted him interim bail to campaign during the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.

Rashid has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail since 2019, after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a 2017 terror-funding case.