The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by jailed Jammu and Kashmir MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh seeking custody parole to attend the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament, Live Law reported.

Justice Vikas Mahajan issued the order after hearing the counsel representing the Baramulla MP, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, and the counsel representing the National Investigation Agency, PTI reported.

Sheikh has been in jail since August 2019 in connection with a terror-funding case filed by the National Investigation Agency. He has been held under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The legislator has been on a hunger strike since January 31 to demand his right to represent his constituency in Parliament, the Hindustan Times reported. Sheikh said that his constituency would remain unrepresented in Parliament without him.

Sheikh leads the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party. However, he had contested and won the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as an Independent candidate.

At the hearing on Friday, advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing the National Investigation Agency, told the court that there was no vested right to attend Parliament sessions, referring to an earlier judgement of the Supreme Court in the Suresh Kalmadi case, Live Law reported.

However, advocate N Hariharan, representing Sheikh, said that the judgement being referred to also held that granting such relief was at the discretion of the court and that it had to be exercised based on the facts and circumstances of each case.

Luthra also said that the Budget had already been presented on February 1 and that there were no grounds for Sheikh to be present in Parliament on Friday. He also cited security concerns regarding the legislator’s entry into Parliament premises.

“He will have to be accompanied by armed personnel all the time,” Luthra said. “The question is how can you have armed personnel entering the Parliament where there are parliamentary restrictions? No one can enter with arms.”

The counsel for the National Investigation Agency said that the matter was beyond its domain and that the secretary general of Parliament would have to be asked if such an arrangement was permissible.

On the other hand, Hariharan said that there were no allegations that Rashid had influenced any of the witnesses till date in the case, Live Law reported.

“Baramulla is the largest constituency of J&K,” Hariharan said. “I have to represent 50% of Kashmiris. We are trying to bring inclusion today. Don’t prevent me to parliamentary representation when the process of inclusion has already started. Two days are left till the first part [of session] will be over.”

The court then reserved its verdict on the legislator’s petition for custody parole and scheduled his main petition seeking regular bail for hearing on February 11.

The Budget session will conclude on April 4. There will be a break from February 13 to March 10.

In July, Sheikh was granted custody parole for two hours to take oath in Parliament on July 5. He was also released from Delhi’s Tihar Jail in October to allow him to campaign for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

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