Engineer Rashid Allowed by NIA to Take Oath

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has agreed to allow Kashmiri leader Engineer Abdul Rashid Sheikh to take his oath as a Member of Parliament while he remains in jail. The final decision now awaits a Delhi court’s ruling, expected tomorrow, on the conditions for his oath-taking.

Engineer Rashid, who won the Baramulla seat as an Independent candidate in the recent Lok Sabha elections, has been held in Tihar Jail since 2019. Facing charges in a terror-funding case by the NIA, his detention had prevented him from swearing in with other MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha. Despite his incarceration, Rashid achieved a significant victory, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by more than 200,000 votes.

On Saturday, Additional Sessions Judge Kiran Gupta instructed the NIA to respond to Mr Rashid’s application for interim bail to facilitate his oath-taking. The court set a deadline for the anti-terror agency to submit its reply by 1 July. Advocate Vikhyat Oberoi, representing Mr Rashid, argued that his client’s electoral triumph demonstrates a robust democratic mandate from the people of Baramulla. “He secured a resounding majority. The people support him and want him to represent their interests in Parliament democratically,” Mr Oberoi asserted.

Mr Rashid’s legal team drew comparisons with a case involving AAP MP Sanjay Singh, suggesting that Mr Rashid, under judicial custody, should be permitted to take his oath. They contended that the NIA’s role should be minimal in facilitating this process, citing the procedural approach taken in Mr Singh’s case where judicial custody did not hinder parliamentary participation.