A Delhi court on Tuesday allowed Baramulla MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh to attend the Monsoon Session of Parliament while remaining in custody, The Hindu reported.

While rejecting Sheikh’s plea for interim bail to discharge his parliamentary duties, Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh of the Patiala House Court directed that the MP can attend the session between July 24 and August 4 with a police escort.

The Parliament session began on Monday and will conclude on August 21, with a break between August 12 and August 18.

The court, however, imposed conditions and costs on the custody parole, the newspaper reported.

Sheikh, who is popularly known as Engineer Rashid, 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 National Investigation Agency had opposed his interim bail plea, contending that if he is allowed to attend Parliament in custody, he should bear the cost of travel.

Sheikh’s lawyers argued that he should be granted bail or alternatively not be made to bear the cost since he was seeking to fulfil a public duty.

In July 2024, Sheikh was granted custody parole for two hours to take oath in Parliament. He had contested and won the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Baramulla while in jail, defeating National Conference leader Omar Abdullah.

He was also released from Delhi’s Tihar jail in October to allow him to campaign for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.