MP Has No Vested Right To Participate In Parliament, Engineer Rashid Can't Use His Position As Tool To Seek Bail: NIA To Delhi High Court

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed a plea filed by Jammu and Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid seeking interim bail or custody parole to attend the second part of the parliamentary session which will end on April 04.

In its response, NIA has said: “...as the detention in the present case is valid, merely because someone i.e., a Member of Parliament has not been allowed to participate in parliament cannot be violative of his vested right and therefore cannot be a ground for grant or Interim Bail.”

The NIA has said that the fact that merely Rashid is a Parliamentarian does not entitle him to claim any exception from the effect of being in Judicial Custody.

“….therefore his election as Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) makes no difference and cannot be used as a tool for getting Interim Bail under the garb of providing service to the people of the said constituency,” the response states.

The probe agency has also said that Rashid is trying to use the reason of attending Parliament to get away from the rigours of imprisonment after he has been unsuccessful in obtaining bail.

“It is submitted that the appellant is a Member of Parliament from Baramulla and is a highly influential person. The answering Respondent apprehends that since many of the witnesses are from Jammu & Kashmir, the appellant may influence the witnesses,” NIA has said.

The matter was listed today before a division bench comprising Justice Chandra Dhari Singh and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani. However, it was adjourned to March 25 on a joint request made by both the sides.

Rashid has challenged an order passed by special NIA court denying him custody parole on March 10. In the trial court, he sought the relief on the ground that being he needed to attend the session to fulfil his public duty being a parliamentarian.

In February, a single judge of the High Court had granted Rashid custody parole for two days in order to enable him to attend the parliament.

Later, the Court had asked the Special NIA Court to decide Rashid's bail plea expeditiously. Subsequently, the trial court has now listed order on his regular bail plea on March 19 while denying him custody parole.

Rashid was elected from the Baramulla constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror-funding case.

Rashid has been in jail since 2019 after he was charged by NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in alleged terror funding case.

Title: Abdul Rashid Sheikh v. NIA