The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the NIA to
state its stand on jailed Jammu and Kashmir MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias
Engineer Rashid's plea seeking permission to attend the ongoing session of
Parliament.
Rashid is facing charges under the anti-terror law
UAPA.
A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Rajneesh
Kumar Gupta issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on
Rashid's appeal against the trial court order which refused to grant him
custody parole or interim bail.
"Issue notice. Let objections, if any, be
placed before this court on Monday," the bench said while listing the case
for further hearing on March 18.
Senior advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Rashid
said, Parliament session was till April 4 and his constituency was going
unrepresented.
"I represent the parliamentary constituency
which has 45 per cent of entire population of J-K. Send me in custody
(parole)," he said, adding that he was earlier given the relief of custody
parole for two days by the high court.
Custody parole entails a prisoner being escorted by
armed police personnel to the place of visit.
The NIA counsel said Rashid's regular bail plea is
likely to be decided by the trial court on March 19.
The Baramulla MP, who defeated Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is facing trial in a terror funding case
with the allegations that he funded separatists and terror groups in Jammu and
Kashmir.
As an interim relief, the high court on February 10
allowed him a two-day custody parole to attend Parliament session on February
11 and 13.
Rashid has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019
after the NIA arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
(UAPA) in the 2017 terror-funding case.