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Engineer Rashid, who won the Baramulla seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is once again in the news. Rashid, who is currently in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in a serious terror funding case, has received a major reprieve from the court. Delhi’s Patiala House Court has granted him custody parole to attend the Parliament’s budget session, which begins on January 28th. How will he go to Parliament? The court granted this parole with certain conditions. Engineer Rashid will travel directly from Tihar Jail to Parliament House every day under police protection and will be returned to jail once the session ends. This parole is for the entire budget session, from January 28th to April 2nd, 2026. This means that he will be able to raise the voice of his constituency in the House as an MP. Why is Rashid in jail? Engineer Rashid was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019. He is accused of being involved in a 2017 terror funding case.

The NIA says that a case has been registered against Rashid under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA. The allegation is that he was part of a conspiracy to fund terror from Pakistan. This case is unique because Engineer Rashid contested and won the Lok Sabha elections while in prison. He filed his nomination as an independent candidate from the Baramulla constituency. His son, Abrar Rashid, led the campaign and appealed for votes for his father. The election results surprised everyone. Rashid defeated a prominent leader like former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by a huge margin of over 200,000 votes. This is not the first time Rashid has been granted parole. He has previously been granted custody parole to take oath as an MP, attend the monsoon session, and cast his vote in the Vice Presidential election. The decision has once again sparked a debate on whether a public representative jailed on serious charges should be allowed to participate in the House proceedings.