Engineer Rashid, who defeated J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Baramulla seat by over 2 lakh votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019. (File photo)
The Delhi High Court Tuesday ordered for the conditional release of Baramulla independent MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid for a week to see his ailing father.
Senior advocate N Hariharan, representing Rashid, who was seeking interim bail, told a bench of Justices Prathiba SIngh and Madhu Jain that Rashid’s father, aged about 85 years, “seems to be on his last legs”.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), represented by senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, opposed the grant of interim bail. Luthra said one of the protected witnesses in the case turned hostile, and against the NIA, 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.
Luthra, relying on Rashid’s call detail records to emphasise that he was allegedly influencing witnesses, including the protected witness who turned hostile, argued, “It is not that it was a singular call, but multiple calls… from the brother’s phone, relative’s phone… if this has happened with one witness, it can happen with the others too.”
The bench, however, ordered for Rashid’s release as interim bail for a week and permitted him to see his father at the hospital and at his residence in Jammu and Kashmir. The bench also ordered that at least two police officials in plainclothes will accompany him at all times.
The court, however, made it clear that the costs of security/police personnel accompanying him shall not be borne by Rashid.
This is unlike custody parole conditions imposed on the MP earlier. When he was granted custody parole earlier for attending Parliament sessions, he was saddled with a cost of Rs 1.45 lakh a day, to be borne by him, for the transport and security.
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Rashid had challenged such conditions before the Delhi HC; a division bench had delivered a split verdict, leading to the challenge then being referred to a third judge, where it remains pending.
Rashid, who defeated J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the Baramulla seat by over 2 lakh votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019 in a case of alleged terror funding. He was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
According to the NIA, he used various public platforms to “propagate the ideology of separatism and secessionism”, was closely associated with various terrorist organisations, and wanted to “legitimise” the United Jihad Council, a platform of anti-India militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
On May 30, 2017, the NIA had registered a case under IPC Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and various sections of the UAPA against Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and other “secessionist and separatist” leaders. According to the agency, these men “received and collected” funds through hawala channels in “connivance with active militants of… terrorist organizations Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Lashkar-e-Toiba” to fund “terrorist activities” in J&K.
Rashid was booked as part of this case.
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A decision on his regular bail plea is pending before the Delhi HC. A trial court had rejected his plea for interim bail on April 24.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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