The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to its
registrar general on the issue of designation of a court to hear the bail plea
of Jammu and Kashmir MP Rashid Engineer in a terror funding case.
Justice Vikas Mahajan was hearing Rashid's petition
alleging that he had been left without any remedy after the NIA court dealing
with his bail application left him in a limbo post his election to the Lok
Sabha last year on account of it not being a special MP-MLA court.
Counsel for the NIA opposed Rashid's plea seeking
interim bail to attend the ongoing Parliament session, and said he had no such
"right" as a parliamentarian.
The counsel, however, said the registrar general has
filed an application in the Supreme Court to seek a clarification on the issue
of designation of a court.
The court was also told that in November last year,
the agency had also made a representation to the registrar general on the issue
of designation of the NIA court as a court which could hear MP/MLA cases.
"It is deemed appropriate to issue notice to
the registrar general of the court to ascertain the status as regard the
administrative order and clarification on the issue. Issue notice,"
Justice Mahajan said, and listed the matter for hearing on February 6.
His main petition, Rashid has urged the high court
to either direct the expeditious disposal of his pending bail plea by the NIA
court or decide the matter itself.
On December 24 last year, additional sessions judge
Chander Jit Singh -- who requested the district judge to transfer the case to a
court designated to try lawmakers as Rashid was an MP -- dismissed his plea
asking for an order on the pending bail application in the NIA case.
With the matter sent back to him by the district
judge, the trial judge said in his decision that he could only decide the
miscellaneous application and not the bail plea.