NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat, both accused in the 2023 Parliament security breach case. A division bench of
Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar passed the order, imposing several conditions on the grant of bail.
The Court directed that each accused be released on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and made it clear that they were to refrain from making any public statements or granting interviews to the media or through social media platforms in connection with the case.
Furthermore, the accused were directed not to leave Delhi without prior permission and were instructed to appear before the investigating agency every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Earlier, their bail pleas had been dismissed by the Special Judge Hardeep Kaur at Patiala House Courts. The case pertains to a serious security lapse on December 13, 2023, when smoke canisters were released inside the Lok Sabha chamber while the House was in session. Two accused, Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, had entered the chamber from the visitors’ gallery and deployed the devices. At the same time, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde were demonstrating outside the Parliament complex.
Following the incident, Delhi Police arrested all four individuals on the same day. Subsequently, Lalit Jha, alleged to be the main conspirator, and co-accused Mahesh Kumawat were also taken into custody.
Azad and Kumawat had moved the High Court to challenge the rejection of their bail applications by the special NIA court. Azad, in her plea, asserted that her involvement was not part of any coordinated attempt to commit a terrorist act. Instead, she maintained that her intention was to draw attention to pressing social concerns, including the problem of unemployment.
She further submitted that she was a well-educated resident of Haryana and employed as a schoolteacher in a private institution.