Delhi HC grants interim bail to Engineer Rashid for father's funeral

Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid was granted bail till June 2 by the Delhi High Court following his father's demise.

Engineer Rashid is lodged in prison in a terror-funding case.

During the interim bail period, Rashid shall always be accompanied by at least two police officials in plainclothes, who shall remain with him from the beginning of the journey from Tihar Jail until his return from Srinagar.

He shall be permitted to visit the burial ground or any other place of worship, but shall not be permitted to move anywhere else, the bench ordered.

Rashid sought interim bail on the grounds that his father, who was undergoing treatment at AIIMS, passed away on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

He said interim bail was needed to conduct the burial, carry out the customary rites and perform various other ceremonies.

"Accordingly, due to the demise of the appellant's father, interim bail is granted to the appellant until 2nd June, 2026," the court ordered.

Rashid is facing trial in the terror-funding case. He faces allegations that he funded separatists and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. He has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail since 2019 after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him in the 2017 case.

After he was named in a chargesheet in October 2019, a special NIA court framed charges against Rashid and others in March 2022 under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the government), and 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

(with PTI inputs)