Delhi court to pass order on Engineer Rashid's bail plea tomorrow

A Delhi court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday, 3 September its order on the regular bail plea of Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid, who is in jail in a terror funding case.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, defeated former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah in Baramulla constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh heard arguments on the application during an in-camera hearing (not open to public) on 28 August and reserved the order.

The judge had on 20 August issued a notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and directed it to file its response by 28 August on his plea.

On 5 July, the court had granted Rashid custody parole to take the oath of office after he won the Lok Sabha elections.

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

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 had filed a charge sheet against several people, 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.