Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, the Member of Parliament from Baramulla, approached the Delhi High Court on Monday requesting a modification of his interim bail conditions. He was granted one week of interim bail in a terror funding case, and he now seeks to be allowed to attend to his seriously ill father, who has been moved from Srinagar to AIIMS Delhi.
A division bench comprising Justices Prathiba M Singh and Madhu Jain, which had previously restricted the MP to Srinagar during his bail period, scheduled the matter for hearing on Tuesday. The court also directed Rashid to provide a local address in Delhi.
Rashid’s senior counsel informed the court that the MP possesses a flat in Delhi allotted to him in his parliamentary capacity. However, the bench expressed concern, stating it would not permit Rashid to stay in a complex housing other MPs, citing security risks. The lawyer then agreed to submit an address for a private residence instead.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) argued that the court had effectively granted custody parole, and since Rashid no longer needed to be outside Delhi, he could visit his father directly from jail, especially given that his interim bail ends on May 6. (Custody parole involves a prisoner being escorted by armed guards.) The NIA also noted that Rashid’s father’s condition is stable and the transfer to AIIMS Delhi was arranged at the family’s request.
Rashid’s legal team responded that the MP was released on April 30 following the interim bail and reached Srinagar that same day. They explained that his father was airlifted to Delhi after his health worsened, but Rashid could not travel due to the court-imposed restriction confining him to Srinagar. “I am stuck in Srinagar… He is here. I am there,” the lawyer remarked.
The High Court had originally granted Rashid interim bail on April 28, allowing him to either visit his father’s hospital or remain at home, with two plainclothes police officers accompanying him at all times. This order came in response to Rashid’s appeal against a trial court’s April 24 decision denying him interim bail.
Rashid has been held in Tihar Jail, Delhi, since his 2019 arrest by the NIA for allegedly financing separatist movements and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. A chargesheet was filed in October 2019, and in March 2022 a special NIA court framed charges against him including criminal conspiracy, waging war against the state, sedition, and offenses related to terrorist acts and terror funding under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
