A court in Jammu on Saturday allowed Engineer Rashid, Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla, to cast his vote in the September 9 Vice-Presidential election.
Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit granted permission after hearing Rashid’s plea.
Rashid was earlier granted custody parole by the court between July 24 and August 4 to attend the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
His counsel, Vikhyat Oberoi, said Rashid must furnish an undertaking to pay travel costs, subject to the outcome of his appeal, which is reserved for orders by the Delhi High Court. The appeal challenges an order directing him to pay several lakhs of rupees as travel expenses for attending Parliament on custody parole.
Rashid has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019, after being arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the 2017 terror funding case.
The Baramulla MP, who defeated Omar Abdullah in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, faces allegations of funding separatists and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. His name reportedly surfaced during the interrogation of businessman and co-accused Zahoor Watali, according to the NIA’s FIR.
He was chargesheeted in October 2019, and in March 2022, a special NIA court framed charges against him and others under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war against the government), and 124A (sedition) of the IPC, along with offences related to terror acts and terror funding under UAPA. (Agencies)
