Parliament security breach: Accused intended to bring back haunted memories of 2001 attack, cops to HC

New Delhi: The police told the Delhi High Court that an accused, arrested in the December 13, 2023 Parliament security breach case, had intended to bring back "haunted memories" of the 2001 Parliament attack.

The police made the submissions in its response opposing the bail plea of Neelam Azad, the sole woman accused arrested in the 2023 case.

The police said detailed investigations have categorically established that accused Manoranjan D and his associates had always been planning a disruptive terror attack in Parliament.

The reply was filed before a bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar which heard the bail plea briefly on Wednesday and listed it for further hearing on Thursday.

"Even though the Parliament building, per-se, is open for visitors during its recess periods also, the plan was to strike right on the day when Parliament would be mourning and observing silence in memory of the 2001 Parliament attack. This happens to be the period when the Winter Session of the Parliament usually takes place," the reply said.

It further said even though the plans to mount an assault in Parliament were being deliberated from as early as 2015, by the time the plan came to fruition, the majestic New Parliament building, a symbol of resurgent, revitalised India, had been inaugurated and was functional.

"In a recorded disclosure statement of accused Neelam, there is a sinister reference from Manoranjan that what they were about to do in the New Parliament will bring back haunted memories of something that had taken place in the Old Parliament," the police said.

It said the use of "revered patriots and freedom fighters like Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose etc.", in their digital footprints and sundry discussions, was to arrogate patriotism but the interrogations have revealed that the accused had limited or purely "perfunctory knowledge" about the philosophies or lives of these great men.

It said that during their preliminary interrogations, the arrested accused had presented a coordinated, premeditated theory portraying the incident as a means "to raise innocuous public issues".

The police said in the reply that post the December 2023 incident, there was absolute panic and terror amongst all those who were present in the Parliament.

"It will not be wrong to say that the entire nation, for a few moments, was stunned by the act of the accused persons. Post incident, some parliamentarians came out and interacted with the media that had gathered outside... Similarly, the security personnel present over there got absolutely terrorised by the act," it said.

Referring to social media chats between the accused and some witness, the police said top level secrecy was being maintained in their inter-se communications and though the word December in the chat was not qualified with December of 2022 or December of 2023 (when the accused could actually commit their intended act), it was clearly indicative of the month of December and Delhi, leaving no other inference that the terror act was planned to coincide with the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack.

The police also sought dismissal of the bail plea on the grounds of being barred by limitation and said there has been a delay of 142 days in the filing of the petition challenging a trial court's September 11, 2024 order dismissing her bail plea.

The police said the plea was in contravention of the provisions of Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act.

This section explicitly stipulates an outer time limit of 90 days for filing any appeal. The delay of more than the permissible period renders this petition ineligible for consideration, it said.

Seeking bail for Azad, her counsel said she was not carrying any explosives in the Parliament and was standing outside.

On the issue of delay in filing the appeal, the counsel said Azad belonged to a poor family and they had no money to come to Delhi.

The trial court had rejected Azad's bail plea, saying there was sufficient evidence to believe that allegations against her were "prima facie" true.

It noted that all the accused persons -- Azad, Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Amol Dhanraj Shinde, Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat -- already had the knowledge about the threat given by designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu for targeting Parliament on December 13, 2023.

Despite the threat perception, the accused persons being aware of the same carried out the alleged offence in Parliament on the same day, it observed.

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, released 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 "tanashahi nahi chalegi" outside Parliament premises.

These four were taken into custody from the spot, while Jha and Kumawat were arrested later.

The prosecution had opposed the bail application, calling the offence "grave". It was alleged that Azad was involved in disrupting the sovereignty and integrity of India.