New Delhi:The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice on Jammu and Kashmir MP Rashid Engineer’s plea to expedite the proceedings on his bail application in a terror funding case, seeking a response from the national investigating agency (NIA).
A bench of justice Vikas Mahajan scheduled the next hearing for January 30.
“Issue notice. Mr Akshai Malik (special public prosecutor) for NIA accepts notice. Let reply be filed in the form of a status report. List on January 30,” the court said in its order.
Engineer, an independent member of parliament (MP) from Baramulla, approached the high court after additional sessions judge (ASJ) Chander Jit Singh, the special judge designated for hearing NIA cases, refused to pass an order on his bail application on December 23.
The sessions judge said that the court only had the jurisdiction to hear miscellaneous applications and not bail applications.
In his plea, argued by advocate Vikhyat Oberoi, Engineer sought to set aside the December 23 order, asserting that the ASJ had considered his bail application in detail and had reserved the order for August 2024. However, the judge later “erroneously” refused to pass an order, citing jurisdictional issues.
“The issue at hand is compounded by the trial court’s refusal to pass an order at all, erroneously claiming to have become functus officio after the petitioner’s election as a member of parliament,” the plea read.
The lawmaker in his plea also urged the high court to adjudicate on his bail plea, in case it was not inclined to issue directions to the city court.
He argued that the inaction violated his fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, as he was being held in incarceration as an undertrial. “The prolonged withholding of the decision, despite the jurisdiction of the Ld. ASJ being intact and the arguments already having been addressed, results in an arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Therefore, such delay, being devoid of reasonable justification, amounts to a violation of the petitioner’s constitutional rights under Article 21,” the plea read.
During Thursday’s hearing, the Baramulla lawmaker, represented by senior advocate N. Hariharan, argued that the city court’s failure to make a decision on his bail had left him without any recourse. “There seems to be no court to hear my bail application. I can’t be without redress,” the senior lawyer submitted.
The lawyer further asserted that it was imperative for the city court to take a decision due to the upcoming Parliament session, as the inaction was resulting in his constituency being unrepresented in Parliament.
The NIA, represented by Malik and advocate Khawar Saleem, submitted that the probe agency had requested the Delhi High Court’s registrar general in November to designate the NIA court as the MP/MLA court, and the issue was under consideration.
Engineer was arrested in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case related to terror funding.
The chargesheet filed by NIA said that the accused were involved in using illicit funds to fuel unrest and separatism in Jammu and Kashmir. NIA also alleged that various terror organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and others, collaborated with Pakistan’s ISI to orchestrate attacks on civilians and security forces.
In 2022, the NIA court framed charges against Engineer and others, including Hafiz Saeed, Yasin Malik, Syed Salahuddin, Shabbir Shah, and Zahoor Ahmed Watali, all of whom are in judicial custody.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also filed a money laundering case against the accused, stemming from the case filed by the NIA.