The Delhi High Court will hear in January jailed MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh’s plea challenging the travel cost order for attending Parliament. His petition argues that imposing such expenses unfairly limits an elected representative’s ability to perform constitutional duties.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court announced on Friday that it will hold a preliminary hearing in January regarding a petition from Abdul Rashid Sheikh, a jailed MP from Jammu and Kashmir, concerning the costs he must pay to attend Parliament while in custody.
This case was presented to Justice Ravinder Dudeja following a split decision from a division bench comprising Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Anup Jairam Bhambhani.
Rashid is contesting an order requiring him to deposit approximately Rs 4 lakh with prison authorities to attend Parliament while incarcerated.
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Justice Dudeja scheduled the preliminary hearing for January 14, after both Rashid’s counsel and representatives from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) indicated that a decision is needed on whether the case should be resolved by this bench or re-heard by a larger panel of judges.
The judge remarked,
“This bench needs to conduct a preliminary hearing on this aspect. List for consideration on January 14,”
Under Section 433 of the BNSS, if judges on a bench are divided on an appeal, the case is referred to another judge within the same court. It can also be re-heard by a larger bench if deemed necessary.
Earlier, On November 7, the division bench produced a split verdict: one judge stated that Rashid does not have any entitlement or privilege to attend Parliament proceedings while in lawful custody, while the other judge argued that he should only bear reasonable transportation costs and not expenses for accompanying police officers.
Justice Chaudhary, the senior judge, dismissed Rashid’s request to modify the previous order for the Rs 4 lakh deposit, while Justice Bhambhani granted it.
The judges, unable to reach a consensus, issued separate judgments and directed the matter to the chief justice for further direction.
The high court is addressing Rashid’s plea to modify the decision from a coordinate bench made on March 25, which mandated the deposit for his parliamentary attendance during custody. Justice Bhambhani was part of that earlier division bench as well.
Rashid, the Baramulla MP who defeated Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is under trial for allegedly financing separatists and terrorist groups in Jammu and Kashmir. A Delhi court had previously permitted him to attend the Monsoon session of Parliament from July 24 to August 4 under police escort.
Justice Chaudhary noted that the sole reason presented is “to attend Parliament sittings in regular course,” which does not constitute an emergency comparable to life events such as death, marriage, or serious family illness.
In contrast, Justice Bhambhani highlighted that as an elected member of Parliament, Rashid has a solemn duty to his constituents to represent them.
He stated,
“I would emphasise, that in a Parliamentary democracy, an elected Member of Parliament owes a solemn obligation to his electors, and it is his bounden duty to represent his constituents in parliamentary proceedings… The importance of that role is highlighted by the fact that when a Parliament session is convened, no less a person than the President of India calls upon Members of Parliament to attend its proceedings,”
Justice Bhambhani concluded that the only legitimate expense Rashid should incur is the transportation cost for his transfer from prison to Parliament and back. He deemed the state’s request for Rashid to cover the costs of police officers, who are public servants, to accompany him as “wholly unjustified and deserves to be quashed.”
The state had demanded Rs 1.45 lakh as daily costs for travel and other arrangements due to Rashid’s custody-parole. Unhappy with this demand, Rashid sought modifications to eliminate the cost requirement.
Justice Bhambhani clarified the March order by asserting that, according to the state’s report, Rashid would only be responsible for costs related to the jail van and escort vehicle, amounting to Rs 1,036 and Rs 1,020 per day, respectively.
Rashid has been incarcerated in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019 after being arrested by the NIA in a 2017 terror-funding case.
In October 2019, he was listed in a charge sheet, and a special NIA court framed charges against him and others in March 2022 under various sections of the IPC, including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the government), and 124A (sedition), as well as offenses related to terrorism and terror funding under the UAPA.