Delhi's Patiala House Court has granted an extension of interim bail to Sheikh Abdul Rashid, the President of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), also known as Engineer Rashid. His bail is now valid until October 12, with the court instructing him to surrender on October 13.
Rashid was initially granted bail in connection with a terror funding case investigated by the National Investigation Agency.
This recent extension follows his interim bail, which was originally set to expire on October 2.
On Tuesday, the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls took place, covering 40 Assembly segments across seven districts, including the winter capital, Jammu.
Polling began at 7 am and concluded at 6 pm, with votes set to be counted on October 8. Notably, the voter turnout reached 65.48% by 5 pm, suggesting it may surpass the turnout recorded during the recent Lok Sabha elections, which was 66.78% in the same districts.
However, several constituencies that previously experienced high voter turnout in the last Assembly elections saw a decline this time. Areas such as Langate, the native segment of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, and the Kupwara and Handwara segments, where People’s Conference president Sajad Lone is contesting, reported significant drops in voter participation.
The current Assembly elections mark the first in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the subsequent division of the state into two Union Territories. The earlier phases of these elections showed higher turnout compared to the Lok Sabha polls, with Phase 1 recording 61.38% turnout compared to 60% in the general elections, and Phase 2 achieving 57.31% against 52.17% in the Lok Sabha polls.
Following a delimitation exercise, the number of assembly seats has gone up from 83 to 90, excluding those allocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Last December, the Supreme Court directed the poll panel to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.
