Delhi court asks NIA to respond to Engineer Rashid’s bail plea

The Baramulla MP, arrested in a terror funding case in 2019, wants to attend the upcoming Parliament session

A Delhi court on Monday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to respond to Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid’s plea to get bail to attend the upcoming Parliament session.

Arrested in a terror funding case in 2019, Mr. Rashid is currently lodged in Tihar jail. He won the Lok Sabha elections last year and was given interim bail on multiple occasions, including to campaign in his constituency during Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls and to take oath etc.

This time too, Mr. Rashid sought the relief on the grounds that he is a parliamentarian and needed to attend the upcoming session to fulfil his public duty.

The second part of Parliament’s Budget session will begin on March 10 and end on April 4.

Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh of the Patiala House Court asked the Central agency to file its reply by March 5.

Mr. Rashid’s regular bail application is currently pending before the court.

His name cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir Valley.

The NIA filed a chargesheet against several persons, 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.

Published - March 03, 2025 07:39 pm IST