Jailed MP Engineer Rashid breaks down while meeting ailing father after interim bail

Rashid, who has been lodged at the Tihar Jail in Delhi since 2019, was granted interim bail by the Delhi High Court on April 28. After landing at the Srinagar airport Thursday afternoon, the MP was taken straight to the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital to see his father. He broke down upon meeting his father amidst scores of Awami Ittehad Party supporters who accompanied him to the hospital.

VIDEO | Srinagar: Jailed Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid reaches SMHS Hospital to meet his ailing father after the Delhi High Court granted him one-week interim bail.

(Full video available on https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/giFZpWYi7f

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While granting him interim relief for a week, the high court had stated in its order that at least two police officials in plainclothes will accompany him at all times.

Prior to this, Rashid was granted custody parole earlier for attending Parliament sessions.

Earlier, his younger brother and MLA Langate Sheikh Khursheed had welcomed the bail decision stating that their father, who’s been critically ill for the last three months, had sought to see Rashid “in his final days.”

Several political leaders had also sought court relief for Rashid as his father remained in hospital over the past few weeks. Kashmir’s head cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had also visited Farooq’s father in hospital earlier this month.

The MP, who was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2019, contested and won the 2024 general election from jail. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had opposed the grant of interim bail to Rashid stating that one of the protected witnesses in the case turned hostile during the trial, after supporting the prosecution earlier and accusing Rashid of influencing witnesses. The agency, however, did not oppose an arrangement similar to a custody parole.