Court allows two-hour custody parole to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid to take oath as Lok Sabha MP

A court on Tuesday granted two-hour custody parole to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid to take oath as a Lok Sabha MP on July 5. Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, was elected from Baramulla seat as an independent candidate defeating National Conference leader Omar Abdullah in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

He was arrested in a 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case.

Rashid had moved the court seeking interim bail, or custody parole in the alternative, to take oath and perform his parliamentary functions.

Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh allowed custody parole for two hours on July 5 to enable him to take oath. A detailed order is awaited.

On Monday, the NIA's counsel did not oppose Rashid's plea and said his oath taking should be subject to some conditions like not speaking to the media and completing all formalities within a day.

Rashid has been in jail since 2019 after he was charged by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his alleged involvement in a terror funding case. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail.

The former MLA's name cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who the NIA had arrested for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir valley.

The NIA had filed a charge sheet against several individuals, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in the case. Malik was awarded life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges.