A Delhi court on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail plea of Lok Sabha MP Rashid Engineer, popularly known as Engineer Rashid. He is currently in jail in connection with a terror funding case. The court is expected to pronounce its verdict on September 4th.
Engineer Rashid had filed an application seeking regular bail in the case. The court, during an in-camera hearing (not open to the public), listened to arguments on the application before reserving its order. Earlier, on August 20th, the court had issued a notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and directed it to file its response to the bail plea by August 28th.
In July 2023, the court granted Engineer Rashid custody parole to take the oath of office after he won the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla constituency in Jammu and Kashmir. However, he has been in jail since 2019 after his arrest by the NIA under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with a 2017 terror funding case. He is currently lodged in Tihar jail.
Engineer Rashid’s name emerged during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir Valley. The NIA had filed a charge sheet against several individuals, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, in the case. Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after pleading guilty to the charges.
