New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Thursday (April 24) said that it would hear the bail pleas of Neelam Azad, the lone woman accused in Parliament security breach case, and another co-accused on April 29.
A bench comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, during the brief hearing, asked police to clarify on the next date of hearing whether carrying or using a non-lethal smoke canister, which is freely available in the market, covered under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for the offence of terrorist activities.
The bench said that smoke canister was freely available in the market and if would attract UAPA, then everybody will come under this offence in every Holi and even every Indian Premier League (IPL) match will attract UAPA.
Canister with smoke which is freely available in market does not come under four corners so as to attract UAPA, HC observed
“You take instructions on this and address us…. this canister with smoke which is freely available in the market does not come under the four corners so as to attract UAPA. If that is so, then in every Holi, everybody will come under this offence. Every IPL match will attract UAPA,” the High Court said, news agency PTI reported.
Prosecution has opposed Azad’s bail plea
While the prosecution has opposed Azad’s bail plea saying the offence against Azad is “grave”, her counsel has sought bail for her arguing that provisions of the UAPA were not attracted in the case.
All the six accused in the case – Azad, Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Lalit Jha, Amol Shinde and Mahesh Kumawat – are facing charges under stringent UAPA and various other provisions of 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.
What happened 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 they were overpowered by the MPs. Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad – two other accused in the case – sprayed coloured gas from canisters around the same time while shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi” outside the Parliament premises.
A trial court earlier denied bail to Neelam Azad.
