Delhi court seeks NIA’s response to MP Rashid’s plea to attend Parliament

A Delhi court on Friday sought a response from the NIA on a plea filed by jailed Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid seeking to attend the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament in custody. Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma issued the notice to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and posted the matter for further proceedings on January 21.

Rashid’s counsel, Vikhyat Oberoi, filed the plea seeking custody parole for his client. In November last year, the court allowed Rashid to attend the Parliament’s Winter Session in custody on all dates.

The court also granted Rashid custody parole between July 24 and August 4, 2025, to attend the Monsoon Session of Parliament. In 2024, it granted Rashid interim bail to campaign for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls. Independent MP Rashid has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail since 2019, after he was arrested by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a 2017 terror-funding case.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rashid defeated National Conference’s Omar Abdullah by over 2 lakhs to win the Baramullah seat.