New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) A Delhi court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of Neelam Azad, one of the six accused in the December 13, 2023 Parliament security breach case.
The Patiala House Court, while refusing to release Azad on regular bail, said that there are sufficient reasonable grounds to believe that the allegations levelled against the accused are prima facie true.
Azad’s previous bail plea in January this year had met with the same fate.
In a major security lapse on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks on Parliament on December 13 last year, two accused jumped on the floor of the Lok Sabha, released coloured gas and raised slogans. Though they were restrained by MPs, Azad and Amol Shinde sprayed coloured gas from canisters while raising slogans outside the Parliament premises.
On the complaint of the Lok Sabha security officer, the Delhi Police registered a case against the accused at Parliament Street police station under sections 186, 353, 452, 153, 34 and 120B of the IPC and sections 13, 16, 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The Delhi Police Special Cell has already filed a first chargesheet, running over 900 pages, against all the six accused, Azad, Shinde, Manoranjan D., Sagar Sharma, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat. They are currently in judicial custody.
Jha is believed to have masterminded the entire plan and had allegedly fled with the mobile phones of four other accused. Kumawat was also associated with the accused.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has also given permission to prosecute the six accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Delhi Police had requested the competent authority i.e. LG to prosecute them under sections 16 (terrorism) and 18 (conspiracy for terrorism) of the UAPA, who gave the approval after finding sufficient material on record.
–IANS
sch/akj