The Delhi High Court has asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to provide an official response regarding the bail request of Rashid Engineer, a Member of Parliament from Jammu and Kashmir. This request comes in the form of a notice issued by the court on Thursday, directing the NIA to submit either a formal reply or a status update on Engineer’s bail plea. This move follows calls from Engineer’s lawyers for the High Court to speed up the case. They claim his bail plea has experienced significant delays in the lower court.
Engineer’s legal team has asked the High Court to take action, either by making the lower court move faster or by directly considering his bail application. The lawyers emphasized that the case has been going on for a long time. Their primary goal is to secure a quick decision on whether Engineer should be granted bail. “The request has been waiting in the lower court for a long period of time,” Engineer’s senior counsel stated, explaining why they appealed to the High Court.
Now, the NIA, which is investigating the terror funding case, must respond to the High Court’s notice about Engineer’s bail application within a given timeframe. This order from the court shows that the legal process against the lawmaker is entering a new stage. Specifically, the charges involve serious allegations of terror funding, meaning the High Court’s involvement increases the level of review of the matter. Thus, the outcome of Engineer’s bail request and its impact on the larger case depend on how the NIA answers and how the High Court proceeds.