New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (July 2) granted bail to two accused – Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat – in the 2023 Parliament security breach case.
A bench comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar granted bail to the two accused on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each and two sureties of the like amount.
The court, while granting them bail, also directed the two accused not to give interviews, or make any statement regarding the case before the media or social media, not to leave Delhi and appear before the investigating agency every Monday Wednesday and Friday.
Azad and Kumawat moved the High Court challenging a trial court order denying them bail in the case.
The court during the hearing on their bail pleas earlier had asked the Delhi Police to explain why the accused persons in the case were booked for an offence punishable under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). It had asked whether an offence under UAPA, having stricter bail considerations, was made out.
The court had further remarked earlier that smoke canister was freely available in the market and if it would attract UAPA, then everybody will come under this offence in every Holi and every Indian Premier League (IPL) match.
The court had also said earlier Parliament building is the pride of our country and nobody can play a prank in the building where serious work gets transited and laws for the country are made and those arrested for the 2023 security breach couldn’t equate themselves with martyrs like Bhagat Singh.
All the six accused in the case – Neelam Azad, Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat – are facing charges under stringent UAPA and other relevant provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for breaching the Parliament security on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack case on December 13, 2023.
Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D allegedly jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery on December 13, 2023 during Zero Hour and they released yellow gas from canisters while shouting slogans before MPs present there overpowered them. Two other accused in the case – Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad – sprayed coloured gas from canisters around the same time while shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi” outside the Parliament premises.
