The Delhi High Court on Wednesday held that the plea filed by Parliament Security Breach case accused Neelam Azad for release from police custody was not maintainable.A Division Bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain dismissed the petition while noting that Azad has already filed a bail application before the trial court.Last week, Azad filed a habeas corpus plea seeking immediate release from police custody. She has challenged the legality of the trial court order dated December 21, 2023 remanding her to police custody.Azad contended that she was not allowed to consult legal practitioners of her choice to defend her during the remand proceedings.
“In fact, it was only after the disposal of the remand application that she was asked by the Ld. Court if she wanted to be represented by an advocate of her choice which she replied in affirmative and an order was passed permitting the petitioner to consult her advocate,” Azad stated in her plea.The plea said that on December 14, she was produced before the court for the first time, after spending 29 hours in police custody.Azad was arrested by the Delhi Police on December 13 along with three other accused - Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D and Amol Shinde.
While Azad and Shinde were protesting outside the Parliament building, Sharma and Manoranjan D entered the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery with canisters emitting smoke.Subsequently, two other accused were also arrested in the case.On December 21, the trial court had ordered the Delhi Police to share the FIR copy with Azad’s counsel. However, the order was stayed by the High Court on December 22.
TAGS: Delhi High Court Neelam Azad Police Custody Release
