A Delhi court on Thursday permitted Baramulla Member Parliament (MP), Abdul Rashid Sheikh, also known as Engineer Rashid, to attend the upcoming winter session of Parliament on all dates while remaining in custody.
According to details, the court said that the permission is subject to conditions imposed previously. Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma clarified that the cost of travel for Rashid would depend on the outcome of an ongoing appeal in the Delhi High Court. He gave these directions while he was hearing a plea seeking custody parole filed by advocate Vikhyat Oberoi on behalf of Sheikh Abdul Rashid.Rashid has been lodged in Tihar jail since 2019 in connection with a terror funding case registered in 2017. He is represented by a team of advocates, including Vikhyat Oberoi, Nishita Gupta, Shivam Prakash, and Ravi Sharma.
The petitioner’s lawyer had sought relief on the grounds that Rashid is a parliamentarian and needs to attend the upcoming winter session of Parliament from December 1 to fulfil his public duty.Rashid defeated Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla.The court had earlier granted Rashid custody parole between July 24 and August 4 to attend the monsoon session of Parliament.It had also granted him interim bail to campaign during the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.
On November 7, a division bench of the Delhi High Court delivered a split verdict regarding Rashid’s plea to waive the cost of his security and travel arrangements while attending Parliament. The bench comprised Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Anup Bhambhani. Justice Chaudhary concluded that Rashid does not have any entitlement to attend parliamentary proceedings while in lawful custody.
Justice Bhambhani, in contrast, ruled that Rashid is only required to cover the expenses of transportation from jail to Parliament and back, including the costs of the jail van and escort vehicle. The police had estimated the total per-day cost for Rashid’s attendance at approximately Rs 1.45 lakh, including charges for accompanying officers.Justice Bhambhani stated that the state’s demand for Rashid to pay for police personnel accompanying him is not justified.
Rashid was formally charged by a special NIA court in Delhi in March 2022 after the case was lodged in 2017.Earlier in March 2025, the Delhi High Court allowed him to attend the Lok Sabha during the Budget session, subject to the condition that expenses related to his travel and other arrangements would be borne by him while he remained in state custody.
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