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The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to its registrar general regarding the designation of a court to hear the bail plea of Jammu and Kashmir MP Rashid Engineer in a terror funding case.
Justice Vikas Mahajan was hearing Rashid’s petition, in which he claimed that he had been left without legal recourse after the NIA court handling his bail application failed to proceed following his election to the Lok Sabha. The court reportedly stated that it was not designated as a special MP-MLA court.
During the hearing, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed Rashid’s plea for interim bail to attend the ongoing Parliament session, arguing that he had no such “right” as a parliamentarian. However, the NIA counsel informed the court that the registrar general had already moved the Supreme Court seeking clarification on the designation of a court for such matters.
Additionally, the court was told that in November last year, the NIA had submitted a representation to the registrar general, requesting that the NIA court be formally designated to hear cases involving MPs and MLAs.
“It is deemed appropriate to issue notice to the registrar general of the court to ascertain the status as regards the administrative order and clarification on the issue. Issue notice,” Justice Mahajan said, scheduling the next hearing for February 6.
In his main petition, Rashid urged the high court to either expedite the disposal of his pending bail plea by the NIA court or take up the matter directly.
On December 24 last year, Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh had requested the district judge to transfer Rashid’s case to a court designated for lawmakers. However, he dismissed Rashid’s plea for an order on his pending bail application in the NIA case.
Subsequently, when the case was referred back to him by the district judge, the trial judge ruled that he could only decide on the miscellaneous application and not the bail plea itself, leaving Rashid’s legal situation unresolved.
With the high court now stepping in, the upcoming hearing is expected to provide clarity on the jurisdictional issue and determine the appropriate court for Rashid’s bail plea.
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