By South First Desk South First Deskpublish
Parliament security breach: Delhi High Court grants bail to two accused
The accused have also been directed to report to the concerned police station on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 am and not to leave the national capital.
Synopsis: The Delhi High Court granted bail to Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat, accused in the Parliament security breach on December 13 2023. The court granted bail to the two, subject to their furnishing a bail bond of 鈧50,000 each and two sureties of like amount.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, 2 July, granted bail to Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat, accused in the Parliament security breach on December 13 2023.
A division bench comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar pronounced the order, which was reserved on 21 May.
The court granted bail to the two, subject to their furnishing a bail bond of 鈧50,000 each and two sureties of like amount.
Meanwhile, the court has barred them from holding press conferences or giving any interviews. They have also been restrained from posting anything on social media relating to the incident in question.
The accused have also been directed to report to the concerned police station on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 am and not to leave the national capital.
Also Read: 鈥楤eing tortured to claim association with national parties,鈥 says accused
The breach in Parliament
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons 鈥 Sagar Sharma and Karnataka man Manoranjan D 鈥 jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour on 13 December 2023, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.
Outside the Parliament premises, around the same time that day, two other accused 鈥 Amol Shinde and Neelam Devi 鈥 sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting anti-government slogans outside the Parliament premises.
Later, Lalit Jha and his associate Mahesh Kumawat were also arrested. The accused told the police that their objective was to protest to garner attention to the Manipur fallout, the unemployment issue, and the farmers鈥 crisis in the country.
During the hearings, the bench had questioned the Delhi Police as to whether an offence under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was made out against the accused persons.
It had orally remarked that if using a smoke canister is a terrorist act, then every Holi and IPL match will also attract the offence under UAPA, reported LiveLaw.
The court had then asked the Delhi Police to explain whether carrying or using a smoke canister, which is not lethal, is covered under the offence of terrorist act under UAPA.
While opposing Azad鈥檚 bail plea, the Delhi Police told the court that the accused persons in the case wanted to bring back 鈥渉aunted memories鈥 of the 2001 Parliament attack to the 鈥渕ajestic鈥 new parliament building.