The trial court docket has remanded Neelam Azad in police custody until January 5. (File)
New Delhi:
Neelam Azad, an accused arrested within the December 13 Parliament safety breach case, Wednesday approached the Delhi Excessive Courtroom alleging her police remand was unlawful as she was not allowed to seek the advice of a authorized practitioner of her option to defend her through the trial court docket proceedings.
In her petition in search of a writ of habeas corpus directing her manufacturing earlier than the excessive court docket in addition to an order to ”set her at liberty”, Neelam Azad mentioned not permitting her to seek the advice of a lawyer of her alternative amounted to violation of her basic proper assured underneath the Structure, making the remand order illegal. The trial court docket has remanded her in police custody until January 5.
The matter is more likely to be talked about for pressing listening to earlier than a trip bench of the excessive court docket on Thursday.
Beneath Indian legal guidelines, a detainee or an individual on their behalf can file a habeas corpus petition in a excessive court docket or the Supreme Courtroom for his or her manufacturing in the event that they really feel they’ve been detained illegally. Upon manufacturing, if the court docket involved concludes that the detention is unlawful, it might order their launch.
”Upon her arrest, the petitioner’s household wasn’t knowledgeable. It was knowledgeable solely within the night of 14.12.2023. Additional, she wasn’t permitted to satisfy any particular person together with advocates which is necessary underneath Article 22(1) of the Structure of India. Even on the court docket a single DLSA (Delhi Authorized Providers Authority) counsel was appointed to all of the accused individuals with out giving them any alternative amongst counsels,” the plea, filed via lawyer Suresh Kumar, alleged.
”The remand order dated 21.12.2023 is unlawful and violative of Article 22(1) of the Structure of India which mandates the accused particular person to be defended by a authorized practitioner of his alternative whereas within the current case the petitioner’s advocate wasn’t permitted to take directions and defend the petitioner previous to the disposal of the remand utility,” the plea added.
The petition additionally mentioned she was produced earlier than the trial court docket on December 14 ”after a interval of 29 hours from the time of arrest”.
Article 22(2) of the Structure says each one that is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced earlier than the closest Justice of the Peace inside a interval of 24 hours of such arrest excluding the time needed for the journey from the place of arrest to the court docket of the Justice of the Peace and no such particular person shall be detained in custody past the mentioned interval with out the authority of a Justice of the Peace On December 21, the trial court docket had prolonged until January 5 the police custody of 4 accused, together with Neelam Azad, arrested within the Parliament safety breach case, after the town police mentioned they wanted to uncover all these concerned within the conspiracy. Whereas the 4 had been arrested on the day of the incident itself, two others had been apprehended later.
Just lately, the excessive court docket stayed the trial court docket’s course to the police to produce a duplicate of the FIR to Neelam Azad, noting that it’s a case of ”delicate nature” and, in response to a judgment of the Supreme Courtroom, the FIRs in sexual offences, offences pertaining to insurgency, terrorism and of that class, and people underneath the Safety of Youngsters from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act are to not be uploaded on web site of the authorities.
In a serious safety breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror assault on December 13, two of them- Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D- jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the general public gallery throughout Zero Hour, launched yellow gasoline from canisters and shouted slogans earlier than being overpowered by some MPs.
Across the identical time, two others- Amol Shinde and Neelam Azad- additionally sprayed colored gasoline from canisters whereas shouting ”tanashahi nahi chalegi” exterior the Parliament Home premises.
Apart from the 4 accused, police have additionally arrested Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat within the case. All are being interrogated in police custody.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)