New Delhi: The Patiala House Court in Delhi has scheduled a hearing for June 18, 2024, on a plea filed by the newly elected MP from Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, seeking interim bail to take his oath. The MP has been in custody for the past five years in connection with a terror funding case filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He recently defeated Omar Abdullah for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.

Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh postponed the matter to June 18 after the NIA requested additional time to respond to Rashid's application. The NIA informed the court that the notification for the swearing-in of newly elected Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) has not yet been published. Previously, the court had sought a response from the NIA regarding the case.

Rashid's counsel, Advocate Vikhyat Oberoi, informed ANI that an application seeking interim bail or, alternatively, custody parole to take the oath and fulfill other parliamentary duties was filed on June 5. The court initially listed the matter for June 6 for the NIA's reply. However, the NIA did not file a response on that date, prompting the court to reschedule the matter for June 7 for the NIA's reply.

Oberoi also mentioned that Rashid, an engineer and two-time MLA, now needs to take his oath as an MP after his election victory. The date for the oath ceremony has not been announced yet.

In 2005, Rashid was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Srinagar for allegedly supporting militants and was jailed for three months and 17 days on charges of anti-national activities. He was detained in Cargo, Humhama, and Raj Bagh prisons. Later, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Srinagar dropped all charges against him on humanitarian grounds. In August 2019, Rashid was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Despite being in jail, he filed his nomination for the 2024 parliamentary election and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah.

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