With folded hands, engineer Rashid seeks provisional bail to attend parliament

Baramulla Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid on Monday moved the Patiala House court in New Delhi, seeking interim bail in a terrorism financing case to attend the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

After Rashid urged Chief District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav to grant him leave, the court asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file its reply by November 27.

Engineer Rashid, appearing virtually in court from Tihar Jail, said: “I was elected by my people. I wasn’t allowed to come to the last session. With folded hands, I am asking for interim bail.”

During the proceedings, Rashid’s counsel and the NIA jointly requested that the case be left in the trial court and not be transferred to another court.

The court will hear both sides on November 27.

The Baramulla MP, who heads the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), is in judicial custody in a terrorism financing case being investigated by the NIA. He recently surrendered in Tihar Jail after his remand ended. In August 2019, Rashid was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). While serving his sentence, he submitted his nomination from prison for the 2024 general elections and was won by Omar Abdullah of the National Conference with a majority of 2.04 lakh votes.

In 2022, the NIA Patiala House Court ordered framing of charges against Rashid and several other key figures, including Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masarat Alam, Zahoor Ahmed Watala, Bitta Karate, Aftab Ahmed Shah, Avtar Ahmed Shah, Naeem Khan and Bashir Ahmed Butt (famous also as Peer Saifullah).

The allegations are part of the ongoing investigation into terrorism financing in Jammu and Kashmir, of which the National Investigation Agency (NIA) maintains that various militant organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed and JKLF, collaborated with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI in organizing attacks on civilians and security forces in the region.