HC seeks NIA’s response on Rashid’s plea to attend Parl

The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking a response on the plea filed by Jammu and Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid, who is challenging a trial court’s decision that denied him custody parole in a terror funding case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Rashid, currently detained in Tihar Jail, is seeking custody parole to attend the ongoing parliamentary session. A division bench, after issuing the notice to NIA, scheduled the matter for a hearing on March 18.

The petition contests the special NIA court’s order from March 10, which rejected his request for temporary release. Rashid argued that, as an elected Member of Parliament, it was necessary for him to attend the session to fulfill his legislative duties.

Justices Prathiba M Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta, while issuing the notice to NIA on Rashid’s appeal, directed the agency to place any objections to his request before the court by Monday.

The bench also scheduled the next hearing for Tuesday, March 18. NIA’s counsel, Akshai Malik, sought a few days to file the agency’s response, but the court turned down the request, remarking, “If the session gets over, there is no point.”

Senior Advocate N Hariharan, representing Rashid, pointed out that the ongoing session runs until April 4, emphasising that his constituency has been left unrepresented in Parliament. “All we are asking is permission to attend Parliament. I represent the parliamentary constituency which has 45 per cent of the entire population of J&K,” he said. Hariharan also reminded the court that Rashid was granted custody parole for two days to attend a previous session.

However, NIA counsel Malik opposed the request, arguing that the prior decision was granted under different circumstances when a designated NIA court was unavailable, which is not the case now.

In February, a single judge of the High Court had granted Rashid custody parole for two days, allowing him to attend Parliament. The trial court has scheduled a decision on his regular bail plea for March 19 but denied him custody parole.