The Delhi High Court on Friday observed that Jailed Baramulla Member of Parliament (MP) Abdul Rashid Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid must deposit a total of ₹3.35 lakhs with the Tihar Jail authorities for him to be taken to the parliament. .A Division Bench of Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Anup Jairam Bhambhani noted that Rashid had already paid around ₹1.45 lakh and, therefore, he only needs to pay the balance amount. The order was passed after the Tihar Jail told the court that the total expense of his travel to parliament would be around ₹8.7 lakh. The Bench observed that it needs to look at the interests of the two sides, and Rashid must pay half of the total amount before the Court finally settles the issue of who should bear the cost of travel and security expenses under custody parole. .The High Court had on March 26 allowed Rashid to attend the parliament session under custody. Payment of travel expense was one of the conditions imposed in the order. On March 27, the jailed MP approached the High Court again stating that the jail authorities had communicated to him that he would have to pay ₹1.45 lakh per day as the expense for his commute from Tihar jail to parliament. .Senior Advocate N Hariharan appeared for Rashid and argued that he does not have the money to bear these expenses which are exorbitant. Hariharan stated that Rashid wants to do his public duty and service by representing the people of his constituency in the parliament. "I don't have anything my lord. Last time people from my constituency deposited money... I will somehoe try and raise ₹50K and make a deposit. I don't have the money but I will tell my people to do crowdfunding," he said. The submissions were opposed by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakare. He said Rashid is on trial for the serious offences under the anti-terror law UAPA and disputed the claims that he has no money. "He was an MLA and even as MP he is drawing salary. When contesting for elections he declared assets of ₹1.5 crores," the ASG said. The Court considered the arguments and ordered Rashid to pay 50% of the total expenses. It told the ASG that if Rashid fails to pay the rest of the money, his assets and MP salary can also be attached. The matter will next be heard on May 19. .Rashid is currently in Tihar Jail as an accused in a terror funding case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). He was arrested in 2019.He had won the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by defeating current Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah by over two lakh votes. He then approached the High Court seeking permission to attend the parliament.The Delhi High Court allowed his plea on March 26 subject to certain conditions one of which was that he will bear the travel expense from Tihar to parliament and back."The expense for the aforesaid travel and other arrangements shall be borne by the appellant," the High Court said in its order..[Read Live Coverage]
