The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed before the Delhi High Court, the interim bail petition filed by Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid, a Member of Parliament from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency, in an alleged terror-funding case of 2017.
NIA had arrested Rashid under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2019. He has remained behind bars since.
Appearing before the single-judge Bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan on Tuesday, Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing the federal agency, argued that Rashid had an alternative remedy under the NIA Act to seek relief.
Under Section 21 of the NIA Act, the accused had the remedy to file an appeal against the order denying him bail. The High Court could not be asked to act contrary to Section 21 of the NIA Act.
Rashid should file an appeal challenging the trial court order before a Division Bench of the High Court. The accused could not circumvent the statutory bar, he added.
Rashid sought interim bail in order to attend the Parliamentary Budget Session, which commenced on January 31. The Session would conclude on April 4. In the alternative, he sought custody parole during the Budget Session.
Rashid has filed the interim bail application in his main petition seeking expeditious ruling by the trial court on his second regular bail plea. It is his case that the special NIA judge had refused to pass any order in his bail plea despite hearing him on length on the ground that it was not an MP/MLA Court.
Referring to Section 21 of the NIA Act, he said that Rashid must file an appeal challenging the trial court order before a division bench of the High Court.
“Does a writ lie? Please see the NIA Act…. If the order failing to hear him was an order denying bail then the remedy was to file an appeal. He doesn’t do that. I ask myself, can your lordships be asked to act contrary to Section 21 of NIA Act?…. It has to go to two judges. He cannot circumvent the statutory bar,” Luthra said.
Appearing for Rashid, Senior Advocate N Hariharan contended that the impugned order was not an order that denied bail to the lawmaker and thus, it could not be challenged in appeal under Section 21. An interlocutory order could not come as appeal under the statute, he added.
NIA had written a representation to the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court in November 2024 to designate the special NIA court as an MP/MLA Court.
The Registrar General recently moved an application before the Supreme Court seeking clarification on the issue.
The single-judge Bench on Tuesday issued notice to the Registrar General of the High Court to ascertain the status of the clarification sought and listed the matter for further hearing on February 6.
On January 23, 2025, the High Court sought response from NIA on the bail petition of Rashid.
NIA had arrested Rashid in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He has remained behind bars since.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan directed the national agency to file a status report before January 30, the next date of hearing in the case.
Appearing for Rashid, Senior Advocate N Hariharan submitted that it seemed no court was there to hear Rashid’s bail plea. One trial court had initially reserved verdict on his bail petition and later released it saying that it had no jurisdiction to hear MP/MLA cases.
He further submitted that three months have passed since then, and the bail application remained pending.
Noting that Baramulla constituency needed to be represented (in Parliament), the Senior Counsel requested the High Court to either hear his application or direct the trial court to dispose of his plea.
Representing NIA, Special Public Prosecutor Akshai Malik and Advocate Khawar Saleem contended that in November 2024, the agency had requested the Registrar General of the High Court to designate a court for hearing the bail plea of Rashid. They apprised the High Court that the request was still pending.
On September 10, 2024, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Chander Jit Singh of the Patiala House Courts had granted interim bail to Rashid till October 2, to campaign for Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
The accused had apprised the Delhi court that his brother Khurshid Ahmad was contesting the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections from Langate seat in North Kashmir on an AIP ticket.
Rashid had been a two-time MLA from the seat before winning the polls against former Chief Minister and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate.
In July 2024, ASJ Singh had granted custody parole to Rashid to take oath as an MP.
Rashid had won the elections by a margin of over two lakh votes from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency.