The World Opinion

Tag: Engineer Rashid

  • Delhi Court Extends Interim Bail Of Engineer Rashid Till October 28 In Terror Funding Case |

    NEW DELHI: The Patiala House Court in Delhi on Tuesday extended the interim bail of Engineer Rashid, an independent Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, till October 28 in connection with a terror funding case. The court granted the extension on medical grounds, relating to Rashid’s father.
    Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh, while extending the interim bail, directed Rashid to surrender before the jail authorities by 12 noon on October 28, 2024. The court also deferred the pronouncement of its order on his regular bail plea until the same date.

    The same judge had previously granted Rashid interim bail on September 10 to allow him to campaign for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, and has now postponed the decision on his regular bail plea. The court noted that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had verified the medical documents and did not oppose the extension of interim bail sought by the applicant.

    The elections for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly were conducted in three phases from September 18 to October 1, with the results announced on October 8. The National Conference-Congress alliance secured 48 seats, followed by the BJP with 29 seats. In 2005, Engineer Rashid was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Srinagar for allegedly supporting militants and was held for three months and 17 days. He faced charges of anti-national activities and was incarcerated in Cargo, Humhama, and Raj Bagh prisons. However, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Srinagar later dropped all charges against him on humanitarian grounds.

    In August 2019, Rashid was again arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). During his incarceration, he filed his nomination for the 2024 parliamentary elections from jail and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

  • They Contested Lok Sabha Polls From Jail And Won But Can They Take Oath? |

    New Delhi: Two candidates from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency are currently in prison on charges related to terrorism and have been elected in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The result was declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on June 4 which raised the unusual situation. 

    As per ECI, Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh secured a victory from the Khadoor Sahib seat of Punjab while terror financing accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid also known as Engineer Rashid won from the Baramulla parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir.

    Amritpal Singh secured victory from a margin of 1,97,120 votes against Congress leader Kulbir Singh Zira. Amritpal is the chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit and is currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail of Assam under the National Security Act (NSA). Rashid won from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat against  National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah by a huge margin. 

    On jailed candidates being elected in Lok Sabha seats, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh said, “…The number of legislators with criminal charges is on the rise… The makers of the Constitution would have never thought that such people would be elected to the Parliament. A constitutional amendment is needed to specify the charges, holding which, the candidates will be disqualified from contesting elections”

    “The irony is, that people in jails cannot vote, but can contest and win elections… A Parliamentary seat cannot lie vacant for more than 60 days, irrespective of whether they have taken an oath,” he said while speaking to ANI. 

    He further said that the Parliament should step in and not let such people get elected and in cases where they have to vacate their seats, they should not be allowed to recontest till the time they are out of custody. 

    “It is the need of the hour to bring a law addressing this issue… There is a provision somewhere which allows them to file their nominations by authorising someone, this is how they have contested elections,” he said.

    If Amritpal Singh and Engineer Rashid were to be convicted and jailed for a minimum of two years, they would immediately lose their seats, as per the Supreme Court judgment of 2013.