A Delhi court has asked the NIA to respond to jailed MP Engineer Rashid’s plea seeking custody parole to attend the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament. The matter has been listed for further hearing on January 21.
A Delhi court on Friday asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file its response to a plea moved by jailed Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid, who has sought permission to attend the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament while remaining in custody.
The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma, who issued notice to the National Investigation Agency and listed the matter for further hearing on January 21.
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The plea has been filed by Rashid’s counsel Vikhyat Oberoi, seeking custody parole for his client so that he may attend parliamentary proceedings.
Engineer Rashid, an Independent Member of Parliament, is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, where he has been in judicial custody since 2019. He was arrested by the NIA in connection with a 2017 terror-funding case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
This is not the first time Rashid has approached the court for such relief. In November last year, the same court had allowed him to attend Parliament’s Winter Session while in custody on all sitting days.
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Prior to that, the court had also granted him custody parole between July 24 and August 4, 2025, to enable him to participate in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
In another instance, during 2024, the court granted Rashid interim bail to campaign for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Despite being in custody, Rashid contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and secured a major political victory.
In the parliamentary polls, Engineer Rashid defeated National Conference leader Omar Abdullah by a margin of more than two lakh votes to win the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat. His win drew national attention as it came while he remained incarcerated.
The court will now consider the NIA’s stand on whether Rashid should be permitted to attend the Budget Session of Parliament in custody, as it has done in earlier sessions. The matter is scheduled for further proceedings on January 21.
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