Delhi court allows incarcerated J&K MP Engineer Rashid to attend Parliament

New Delhi, Nov 27 The Patiala House Court, on Thursday, allowed jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Abdul Rashid Sheikh to attend the upcoming Winter Session of the Lok Sabha while in custody.

The order was passed by the Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma, who said that Engineer Rashid, currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail in a terror funding case, may be taken to Parliament under police escort for the duration of the session, on the same terms imposed earlier.

The court clarified that the question of who will bear the travel expenses during his custody parole will remain subject to the outcome of Rashid's pending appeal before the Delhi High Court.

Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court delivered a split judgment on Rashid's plea seeking modification of the condition requiring him to pay nearly Rs 4 lakh towards travel and deployment costs during his visits to Parliament.

After Justice Vivek Chaudhary had rejected the plea and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani had allowed it, the matter was referred to Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya, the master of the roster, for administrative directions Rashid's counsel had said before the Delhi High Court that imposing daily custodial travel costs, including salaries of police personnel, effectively restricted an elected MP from representing his constituency.

He added that while Engineer Rashid was willing to bear reasonable expenses, the inclusion of police salaries was beyond the scope of the Delhi Prison Rules.

On the other hand, the Delhi Police had defended the calculation, saying the amount covered deployment charges, logistics, and security arrangements necessary for escorting an undertrial MP to Parliament.

In September, the Patiala House Court had similarly permitted Rashid to cast his vote in the Vice-Presidential election.

Engineer Rashid, chief of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Tihar Jail and registered a massive victory over National Conference Vice-President and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by more than two lakh votes.

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