HC seeks Delhi Police response on bail petition in 2023 Parliament security breach case

The Delhi high court on Monday asked the Delhi Police to file its reply on a bail plea filed by Neelam Azad, who was arrested in connection with the December 2023 Parliament security breach case.

Though a bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta sought the Delhi Police response by April 16, the court reprimanded Azad for preferring an appeal against the trial court’s September, 2024 order denying her bail beyond the stipulated time.

To be sure, section 21 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, states that appeals from judgments, orders, of a special court cannot be entertained after 90 days.

“What was she (Neelam) trying to do? In Parliament she was throwing smoke canisters? What is this? You’ve come after six months. It’s beyond 90 days. It’s a clear bar,” the bench said to Azad’s counsel Balraj S Malik.

Azad had approached the high court against the city court’s September, 2024 order rejecting her bail. In its 15-page order, the city court observed that there were sufficient reasonable grounds to believe that the allegations against her were prima facie true.

In her petition before the high court, Azad contended that she was not a part of the alleged conspiracy but was only interested in raising protests outside the Parliament to highlight social issues and unemployment crisis, and did not enter the precincts of the Parliament. Her counsel went on to add that the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were not applicable in his client’s case and she was an educated woman working as a teacher in a private school in Haryana.

The counsel for the Delhi Police argued that Azad entered into a “deep-rooted conspiracy” with the other accused and it had evidence to prove that she was constantly communicating with the co-accused for information.

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during zero hour, sprayed yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before they were overpowered by some MPs.

Around the same time, two other accused – Amol Shinde and Azad – sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans against the government outside the Parliament premises. Azad was arrested along with Sharma, Manoranjan and Amol.