ibn sultan
New Delhi, Jan 24:A Delhi court on Saturday granted custody parole to jailed Baramulla Member of Parliament Engineer Abdul Rashid Sheikh, allowing him to attend the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament.
The Patiala House Court, presided over by Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma, permitted Rashid—currently lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with a terror funding case—to participate in the Budget Session of the Lok Sabha from January 28 onwards, while remaining in judicial custody.
The court clarified that the issue of who will bear the travel and security expenses during Rashid’s custody parole will depend on the outcome of his pending appeal before the Delhi High Court.
In November 2025, the Delhi High Court delivered a split verdict on Rashid’s plea seeking modification of a condition requiring him to pay nearly ₹4 lakh towards travel and security deployment costs for attending Parliament. While Justice Vivek Chaudhary rejected the plea, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani allowed it, leading to the matter being referred to Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya for administrative directions.
Rashid’s counsel argued that imposing daily custodial travel expenses, including salaries of police personnel, effectively prevents an elected MP from discharging his constitutional duty of representing his constituency. The counsel maintained that while Rashid was willing to bear reasonable expenses, the inclusion of police salaries was not envisaged under the Delhi Prison Rules.
The Delhi Police, however, defended the cost calculation, stating that the amount covered necessary deployment charges, logistics, and security arrangements for escorting an undertrial MP to Parliament.
Engineer Rashid, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Tihar Jail and secured a decisive victory from the Baramulla constituency, defeating National Conference Vice-President and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by a margin of over two lakh votes.
Rashid remains in judicial custody and continues to face allegations in the militant funding case.
