Delhi HC to hold hearing in January on Rashid's plea against order on Parliament travel costs

The Delhi High Court on Friday said it would conduct in January a preliminary hearing on a plea by jailed Baramulla MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh against costs to be paid for attending Parliament while in custody.

The matter was placed before Justice Ravinder Dudeja by the Chief Justice following a split verdict by a division bench of Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Anup Jairam Bhambhani on Rashid’s plea seeking modification of an order asking him to deposit approximately Rs 4 lakh with jail authorities to attend Parliament in custody.

Justice Dudeja listed the matter for January 14 to conduct a preliminary hearing after the counsel for Rashid and National Investigation Agency (NIA) submitted that the judge has to decide whether he should deliver the verdict or the appeal is to be re-heard and decided by a larger bench of judges. “This bench needs to conduct a preliminary hearing on this aspect. List for consideration on January 14,” the judge said.

As per Section 433 of BNSS, if two or more judges on the bench are equally divided on an appeal, the case is referred to another judge of the same court. The proviso states that if either the original judges or the new judge believes it is necessary, the appeal can be re-heard and decided by a larger bench of judges.

On November 7, the bench of Justices Chaudhary and Bhambhani delivered the split verdict with one of the judges, saying Rashid does not have any right, entitlement or privilege to attend Parliament proceedings while in lawful custody and the other holding him liable to pay only reasonable costs towards transportation and not charges for police officers accompanying him.

While Justice Chaudhary, the senior judge on the bench, had rejected Rashid’s plea seeking modification of an order asking him to deposit approximately Rs 4 lakh with jail authorities to attend Parliament in custody, Justice Bhambhani allowed it.

The two judges had said they could not concur with each other and passed two separate judgments and they referred the matter to the chief justice for appropriate orders.

The high court was hearing a plea by Rashid seeking modification of an order passed by a coordinate bench on March 25, asking him to deposit around Rs 4 lakh with jail authorities to attend Parliament while in custody. Justice Bhambhani was also part of the previous division bench.

The Baramulla MP is facing trial in a terror funding case. A Delhi court had allowed him to attend the Monsoon session of Parliament between July 24 and August 4 with a police escort.

Justice Chaudhary had said that the sole circumstance placed is ‘to attend Parliament sittings in regular course’, which cannot be termed as an emergent situation comparable to death, marriage or serious illness in the family or to the applicant.

Justice Bhambhani, on the other hand, had held that being an elected member of Parliament, Rashid owes a solemn obligation to his constituents to represent them in the Lok Sabha. “I would emphasise, that in a parliamentary democracy, an elected Member of Parliament owes a solemn obligation to his electors, and it is his bounden duty to represent his constituents in parliamentary proceedings,” he had said.

The judge had held that the only legitimate expense which Rashid can be asked to bear is the cost of transportation for taking him from prison to Parliament and back.

“... And the State’s demand that he must foot the charges for all police officers, who are public servants, and who the State says are required to accompany the appellant, is wholly unjustified and deserves to be quashed,” Justice Bhambhani had said in his verdict.

The state asked Rashid to pay Rs 1.45 lakh as the per day cost for travel and other arrangements to avail custody-parole. Aggrieved by the demand, Rashid sought modification of the order by waiving off the costs portion.

Justice Bhambhani had clarified the March order by saying as per the break-up given by the state in its report, the costs payable by Rashid would only be towards jail van and escort vehicle expenses at Rs 1,036 and Rs 1,020 per day, respectively.