Parliament security breach case: police oppose bail to 3

Opposing the bail plea of the accused in the 2023 Parliament security breach case, the police on Monday submitted before the Delhi High Court that carrying inflammable material inside the Parliament and “terrorising the minds” of the parliamentarians cannot be condoned.

The submissions were made before the bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Sudha Jain, who were hearing the bail plea by the accused Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D. and Lalit Jha.

Terming the accused as “lead players” in the security breach of the Parliament, counsel representing the Delhi police said that pamphlets carried by the accused contained an “open threat” to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that they intended to “usurp power”.

The Delhi police counsel stated that the entire act, which was seen live on television, was a “threat to the sovereignty and integrity” of the country.

Counsel for the accused persons said that the way of “protest” might not be right, but the court should consider that they were not terrorists and there were no casualties.

In a major security breach in the Parliament on December 13, 2023, Mr. Sharma and Mr. Manoranjan, jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber during Zero Hour from the visitors’ gallery, carrying canisters emitting yellow smoke. The smoke spread throughout the House, causing chaos and confusion. The two were caught by the MPs and handed over to the police.

The police later arrested Neelam Azad, followed by Mr Shinde, Lalit Jha, and Mahesh Kumawat. The police have invoked anti-terror provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on the accused and maintained that the act of the security breach in the Parliament was a ‘well planned conspiracy’.

The Delhi Police had registered the FIR on the next day of the incident under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Accused Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat were granted bail by the High Court in July 2025.