Delhi HC allows MP Er Rashid Sheikh to visit ailing father at AIIMS Delhi with rider

MUDASSIR YOUSUF

Srinagar, May 05: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed Baramulla Member of Parliament Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popular as Er Rashid, to visit his ailing father at All India Institute of Medical Sciences under police escort, granting limited relief on humanitarian grounds.

The court directed that the visit be time-bound and conducted under strict supervision, with authorities asked to ensure adequate security arrangements during his movement and stay. It emphasised that all prescribed protocols must be adhered to.

The relief comes on a plea seeking modification of conditions of Rashid’s interim bail. According to submissions made before the court, he had earlier been granted one-week interim bail to visit his father when he was admitted to a hospital in Srinagar, with conditions including restricted movement and security escort. The counsel had informed the court that the condition of his father, Khazir Mohammad Sheikh, deteriorated in recent days, following which he was shifted from Srinagar to AIIMS Delhi for specialised treatment on medical advice.

It was submitted that Rashid, presently in Srinagar under existing bail conditions, was unable to travel outside the permitted jurisdiction. The plea sought relaxation of these restrictions to enable him to meet his father during the critical phase of treatment.

Rashid, a Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla and founder of the Awami Ittehad Party, has been in judicial custody since 2019 in connection with a ‘terror funding case’ being probed by the National Investigation Agency.