Delhi court reserves order on bail plea of MP Engineer Rashid in terror funding case

Delhi’s Patiala House court on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail plea of jailed parliamentarian Engineer Rashid in connection with a 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, won the Baramulla seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by defeating former chief minister Omar Abdullah. Rashid, who has been lodged in Tihar Jail, has filed a petition seeking regular bail in the case.

Additional sessions judge Chanderjit Singh reserved his order on the bail application of Rashid Engineer after a detailed in-camera (not open to public) hearing. The court is expected to pronounce its decision on September 4.

The lawyers related to the case confirmed that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has strongly opposed the bail plea of Engineer Rashid.

Engineer Rashid, who was arrested in connection with a 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, has submitted a second regular bail application in Delhi’s Patiala House court.

The same court had granted Rashid a two-hour custody parole on July 5 to allow him to take the oath as a member of Parliament.

In 2005, Engineer Rashid was arrested by the special operations group (SOG) in Srinagar for allegedly supporting militants and was held for three months and 17 days. He faced charges of anti-national activities and was incarcerated in Cargo, Humhama, and Raj Bagh prisons. However, the chief judicial magistrate of Srinagar later dropped all charges against him on humanitarian grounds.

In August 2019, Rashid was again arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). During his incarceration, he filed his nomination papers for the 2024 parliamentary elections from jail and won by 2.04 lakh votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.