Ghulam Nabi Azad ‘welcomes’ interim bail granted to Engineer Rashid

New Delhi [India], September 10 (ANI): Democratic Progressive Azad Party Chief, Ghulam Nabi Azad, on Tuesday welcomed the interim bail granted to Lok Sabha MP Engineer Rashid.

The bail was granted by Delhi’s special NIA court earlier in the day to allow Rashid to campaign for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. He has to surrender on October 3.

In a post on X, Azad, said, “I welcome the interim bail order granted to Eng. Rashid Sahib by the Delhi Patiala House Court. As a democratically elected MP with a strong mandate, this is a step towards justice and his right to campaign in the assembly elections.”

Rashid, contested the election as an Independent candidate, and underscored his growing political influence in the region by defeating National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah from the Baramulla seat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier today, Delhi’s special NIA court granted interim bail to parliamentarian Rashid Engineer in connection with a terror funding case. The interim bail has been granted till October 2, 2024, by the court, which directed him to surrender on October 3 before the concerned jail. By the order, the court allowed him to campaign for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.

Rashid Engineer had filed a bail application requesting interim bail for three months, while his regular bail application remains pending before the same court, with an order expected on September 11.

Engineer Rashid, who was arrested in connection with a 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, has submitted a second regular bail application in Delhi’s Patiala House court.

Earlier, the same court had granted Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, a two-hour custody parole on July 5 to allow him to take the oath as a Member of Parliament.

In 2005, Engineer Rashid was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Srinagar for allegedly supporting militants and was held for three months and 17 days. He faced charges of anti-national activities and was incarcerated in Cargo, Humhama, and Raj Bagh prisons. However, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Srinagar later dropped all charges against him on humanitarian grounds.

In August 2019, Rashid was again arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). During his incarceration, he filed his nomination for the 2024 parliamentary elections from jail and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.