New Delhi, May 23 (IANS): The Delhi Police Special Cell has filed a nearly 14,000-page fourth supplementary chargesheet before the Patiala House Court under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the accused in the 2023 Parliament security breach case, covering offences related to terrorist acts, criminal conspiracy, provocation to cause riots, obstruction of public servants, and destruction of evidence. The chargesheet, comprising 13,967 pages, was taken on record during proceedings before Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal on Thursday, with copies supplied to all accused persons and their counsels via pen drive. The prosecution filed the chargesheet under Sections 186, 353, 153, 452, 201, 34 and 120B of the IPC along with Sections 13, 16 and 18 of the UAPA. Among the accused, Neelam Prajapati alias Neelam Azad and Mahesh Kumawat appeared on bail, while Manoranjan D., Amol Dhanraj, Sagar Sharma and Lalit Jha were produced physically from judicial custody.
The case stems from the major security breach on December 13, 2023 – the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack – when accused Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D. allegedly jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery during proceedings and released yellow smoke from canisters, triggering panic before being overpowered by MPs and security personnel. Simultaneously, Neelam Azad and Amol allegedly released coloured smoke and raised slogans outside Parliament premises, while Lalit Jha is alleged to have been the mastermind behind the conspiracy who fled with co-accused mobile phones to destroy evidence. Defence counsel for Neelam Azad and Amol Dhanraj objected to the filing of the extensive chargesheet while arguments on framing of charges were already underway, calling it a gross abuse of process of law, and sought a hard copy of the document. The court directed that a hard copy be supplied to defence counsel and listed the matter for further proceedings and document scrutiny on May 29.