Delhi High Court Grants Custody Parole To MP Engineer Rashid To Attend Parliament, Proscribes Him From Using Internet Or Speaking To Media

The Delhi High Court on Monday granted custody parole of two days to Jammu and Kashmir MP Rashid Engineer, who is detained in relation to a terror funding case registered under UAPA.

Rashid sought custody parole in order to attend the Parliamentary budget session.

“Custody parole is being granted for 2 days in the peculiar facts of this case… Conditions are imposed,” Justice Vikas Mahajan said while pronouncing the order.

The Court has granted custody parole to Rashid for February 11 and 13. 

Rashid has been restrained from having access to his mobile phone as well as internet.

“The petitioner shall not interact with any person except for his limited responsibility of attending the Parliament. He won't address the media in any manner,” the Court said.

Verdict in the matter was reserved last week. The Court heard Senior Advocate N Hariharan for Rashid and Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra for National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Hariharan referred to Pappu Yadav case and said that Rashid can also be allowed to be released on custody parole in similar manner.

He had argued that till date, there are no allegations that Rashid has influenced any of the witnesses.

Opposing the grant of custody parole, Luthra referred to the Supreme Court judgment in Suresh Kalmadi case wherein it was held that there is no vested right to attend the Parliament. The relief is not possible in view of Kalmadi judgment, he said.

To this, Hariharan responded and said that while it is not disputed that the settled law says that there is no vested right, however, the Kalmadi judgment also held that grant of such a relief is the discretion of the Court of law which has to be exercised based on facts and circumstances of each case.

Luthra also submitted that there was no ground to show as to why Rashid has to be present in the parliament today when the budget has already been presented a few days ago.

He had submitted that there were security concerns in permitting Rashid to attend the parliament on custody parole as the process would require him to be accompanied by armed personnel all the time which is not allowed as per the Rules and Regulations of the parliament.

Rashid's main petition concerning the issue of his regular bail plea is listed for hearing tomorrow. His main plea seeks expeditious ruling by the trial court on his second regular bail plea.

In his petition, Rashid has sought directions to the trial court judge to expedite a decision on his pending regular bail application.

In the alternative, he has prayed that the writ petition be treated as his second regular bail application and be decided by the High Court.

The development ensued after the ASJ, which was adjudicating the UAPA case, in December last year said that it could only decide Rashid's miscellaneous application but not his regular bail application.

The Additional Sessions Judge Court had then requested the District Judge to transfer the UAPA case to a MP/MLA designated court designated after Rashid became an MP.

Rashid was elected from the Baramulla constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror-funding case.

Rashid has been in jail since 2019 after he was charged by NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in alleged terror funding case.

Title: Abdul Rashid Sheikh v. NIA 

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 156