Delhi HC grants Interim bail to Engineer Rashid for father’s funeral

The Delhi High Court on Monday granted interim bail till June 2 to jailed Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid in connection with his father’s funeral.

A bench comprising Justices Prathiba Singh and Madhu Jain allowed the interim relief after Rashid informed the court that his father had passed away while undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi.

The court directed that Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, would remain under strict police supervision during the bail period. It ordered that at least two plainclothes police officials accompany him throughout the journey from Tihar Jail to Srinagar and until his return.

The High Court further permitted Rashid to visit the burial ground and places of worship for funeral-related rituals but restricted him from travelling anywhere else during the interim bail period.

Rashid had sought temporary bail to attend the burial, perform customary last rites and participate in related ceremonies following his father’s death.

The Baramulla MP has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019 after being arrested by the National Investigation Agency in a 2017 terror-funding case.

He faces allegations of funding separatist and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2022, a special NIA court framed charges against him and others under criminal conspiracy, sedition and anti-terror provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.