On the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, there was a major security breach inside the Lok Sabha. Two accused, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, jumped from the public gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber during Zero Hour.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi Police to respond to a bail plea filed by one of the accused in the Parliament security breach case of December 13, 2023.
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A bench of Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Anup Jairam Bhambhani issued a notice to the police regarding the petition filed by Manoranjan D. He had challenged a trial court’s decision that refused him bail.
The High Court has scheduled the matter for the next hearing on July 24.
Manoranjan’s lawyer argued that even though their way of protesting was wrong, they had no intention to commit any terrorist act by entering the Parliament.
“Whether their act comes under the Unlawful Activities Act, the question is this. They all are highly educated. Their intention was to demonstrate issues like unemployment. The way they adopted was totally wrong. The method was wrong and it is none of their business to protest like this,” the lawyer stated.
However, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh remarked, “Highly educated people are more dangerous.”
The plea further mentioned that Manoranjan was innocent and was arrested without any solid evidence. It stated that neither did the police recover any material from him nor was there anything left to be recovered that required his further custody.
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Earlier, the Delhi High Court had also asked the police to respond to a bail plea filed by another accused, Neelam Azad.
The trial court had observed that all six accused—Neelam Azad, Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde, Lalit Jha, and Mahesh Kumawat—knew about the threat given by designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu to target Parliament on December 13, 2023.
Despite knowing about this threat, they still carried out the alleged act inside the Parliament on the same day, the court had noted.
On the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack, there was a major security breach inside the Lok Sabha. Two accused, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, jumped from the public gallery into the Lok Sabha chamber during Zero Hour. They released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before some Members of Parliament (MPs) overpowered them.
At the same time, two other accused, Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad, sprayed colored gas from canisters while shouting “tanashahi nahi chalegi“ outside the Parliament premises.
The four were taken into custody on the spot, while the other two, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat, were arrested later.
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The prosecution has strongly opposed the bail application, arguing that the offence was serious. They alleged that Neelam Azad was involved in activities that could harm the sovereignty and integrity of India.
As the case proceeds, the Delhi High Court will decide whether to grant bail to Manoranjan D or not.
