A Delhi court on Thursday recommended the transfer of Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case to a special court designed for lawmakers, considering that one of the accused, Engineer Rashid, is now a member of parliament.
The special NIA court was scheduled to pass an order on Rashid's application seeking regular bail. Additional Sessions Judge Chander Jit Singh sent the case file to the District Judge, who is likely to hear the matter on November 25.
Rashid was arrested in August 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). While in jail, he filed nominations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla constituency and won by a margin of 204,000 votes, defeating former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The National Investigation Agency alleges that various militant organisations, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed collaborated with Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, to orchestrate attacks on civilians and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2022, the NIA court ordered framing of charges against Engineer Rashid and several others, including Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin, Yasin Malik, Shabbir Shah, Masrat Alam, Zahoor Ahmed Watali, Bitta Karate, Aftab Ahmed Shah, Avtar Ahmed Shah, Naeem Khan, and Bashir Ahmed Butt.
The NIA in its FIR accused them of conspiring to wage war against the government and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley.
Based on the NIA FIR, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against the accused persons.