Delhi court allows incarcerated MP Engineer Rashid to attend Parliament

In November 2025, the Delhi High Court delivered a split judgment on Rashid’s plea seeking modification of the condition requiring him to pay nearly Rs 4 lakh towards travel and deployment costs during his visits to Parliament.

After Justice Vivek Chaudhary had rejected the plea and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani had allowed it, the matter was referred to Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya, the Master of the Roster, for administrative directions.

Rashid’s counsel had said before the Delhi High Court that imposing daily custodial travel costs, including salaries of police personnel, effectively restricted an elected MP from representing his constituency. He added that while Engineer Rashid was willing to bear reasonable expenses, the inclusion of police salaries was beyond the scope of the Delhi Prison Rules.

On the other hand, the Delhi Police had defended the calculation, saying the amount covered deployment charges, logistics, and security arrangements necessary for escorting an undertrial MP to Parliament.

Engineer Rashid, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Tihar Jail and registered a massive victory over National Conference Vice-President and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by more than two lakh votes.

Rashid, the sitting MP from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla, is facing allegations under a terror funding case and remains in judicial custody.