New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday permitted jailed Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid to meet his ailing father in AIIMS Delhi for 12 hours a day till May 10.
Modifying its earlier order granting interim bail to Rashid in a terror funding case to enable him to see his father in Srinagar, a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Madhu Jain clarified that after the meeting in AIIMS, he would return to jail.
The bench added that the other conditions, including the presence of at least two police personnel in plain clothes with Rashid, would be the same.
The court added that the police officials would stand outside his father’s ward in AIIMS.
“Since the appellant’s father is already in AIIMS Delhi and the intention of the order dated April 28 was for the appellant to spend time with his father, the order is modified to the effect that the appellant be permitted to meet his father from 8 am to 8 pm on a daily basis till the 10th of May,” the court said.
“After the time elapses, the appellant shall continue to be lodged in jail,” it added.
The court also turned down a request by the NIA counsel to remove the condition permitting Rashid to use a mobile phone, as it asked the agency not to make “impractical” submissions.
The counsel for NIA argued that “anything was possible” if the accused was left with a mobile for such a long duration in the absence of police officials.
If he has to use a mobile phone, he can use his father’s or any family member’s, the court remarked.
The court clarified that Rashid would be permitted to use the mobile phone during the period he is out of jail.
The court had granted the interim bail to Rashid on April 28 on the condition that he could either visit the Srinagar hospital where his father was being treated or remain at home.
The interim bail period was due to expire on May 6.
On Monday, the court had granted time to Rashid to furnish a local address after he sought permission to come back to Delhi from Srinagar to be with his father, who had been shifted to AIIMS Delhi.
During the hearing, Rashid’s senior counsel said he has rented an accommodation for this purpose as he has no relatives in Delhi.
The NIA counsel, however, argued that since the accused’s father was also now in Delhi, there was no need to permit him to stay in a rented premises.
Even when he was permitted to attend Parliament, he was sent on custody parole, he added.
Custody parole entails a prisoner being escorted by armed police personnel to his place of visit.
Agreeing with the agency, the court told Rashid’s senior counsel, “You can go 8 am to 8 pm.”
“He (NIA counsel) is right to the extent that we can now not start the verification of this address. Without that, we can’t permit,” the bench said.
On Monday, the court had refused to permit Rashid to stay in the flat allotted to him as a Member of Parliament.
It had stated that Rashid could not be permitted to stay where other MPs were also living as it could be a security issue.
The court passed the order while dealing with Rashid’s appeal against an April 24 trial court verdict refusing to grant him interim bail.
Rashid was arrested for allegedly funding separatists and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. He has been lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him in the 2017 terror-funding case.
After being named in a chargesheet in October 2019, a special NIA court framed charges against Rashid and others in March 2022 under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the government) and 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code and for offences relating to terrorist acts and terror funding under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
