Delhi HC reserves verdict on jailed MP Engineer Rashid’s plea to attend Budget session

The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by jailed Jammu and Kashmir MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh seeking custody parole to attend the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament, Live Law reported.

Justice Vikas Mahajan issued the order after hearing the counsel representing the Baramulla MP, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, and the counsel representing the National Investigation Agency, PTI reported.

Sheikh has been in jail since August 2019 in connection with a terror-funding case filed by the National Investigation Agency. He has been held under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The legislator has been on a hunger strike since January 31 to demand his right to represent his constituency in Parliament, the Hindustan Times reported. Sheikh said that his constituency would remain unrepresented in Parliament without him.

Sheikh leads the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party. However, he had contested and won the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as an Independent candidate.

At the hearing on Friday, advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing the National Investigation Agency, told the court that there was no vested right to attend Parliament sessions, referring to an earlier judgement of the Supreme Court in the Suresh Kalmadi case, Live Law reported.

However, advocate N Hariharan, representing Sheikh, said that the judgement being referred to also held that granting such relief was at the discretion of the court and that it…

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