The Delhi High
Court on Thursday refused an urgent hearing on a habeas corpus plea moved by
accused Neelam Azad in connection with the Parliament security breach case.
Neelam Azad,
through a plea, is seeking direction to immediately release her from the
custody of Delhi Police. She was arrested along with other accused on December
13.
The vacation
bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and Justice Shalinder Kaur on Thursday
refused to hear the matter on vacation and said it would come up for hearing on
January 3, 2023
Neelam Azad,
through Lawyer Advocate Suresh Kumar, alleged that her arrest was illegal and
in contravention of Article 22(1) of the Consitution. The plea further alleged
that though she was arrested in the afternoon, her family was informed in the
evening.
"There are
guidelines by the Supreme Court regarding the arrest of any person. We feel
that the guidelines set by the SC were not followed in this case." Advocate
Suresh Kumar said while speaking to ANI.
She also alleged
that she was produced 29 hours after her arrest in court contrary to the laws.
The plea further
challenged the legality of the remand order passed by the trial court dated
December 21 on the ground that she wasn't allowed to consult the legal
practitioner of her choice to defend her during the proceeding of the remand
application moved by the Delhi Police.
The Plea further
stated that it is a settled principle of law that the rights enshrined under
the provision (1) and (2) of Article 22 of the Constitution of India activate
as soon as the arrest is made.
The state was
under obligation to enable the petitioner to consult a legal practitioner of
her choice right after her arrest but the same wasn't complied with rather the
state had been opposing the petitioner's right to consult her advocate till
December 21.
The Delhi High
Court last week has stayed the trial Court order directing Delhi Police to
supply an FIR Copy to one of the accused Neelam Azad.
Delhi Police had
moved to the High Court challenging the trial court order in regards to
supplying a copy of the FIR to Neelam Azad in connection with the Parliament
security breach case.
The Bench of
Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma, after noting the submissions of Delhi Police
ordered that the trial court's directions will be stayed till January 4, 2024.
Meanwhile, the
court also issued notices to the accused Neelam Azad on Delhi Police plea.
The Patiala House
Court had earlier allowed an application moved by Neelam Azad's family seeking
a supply of a copy of FIR registration under various sections of IPC and UAPA.
The court had
also allowed plea seeking court direction to Delhi Police to allow Neelam's
lawyer to meet for legal advice during the custodial remand period.
The case involves
a security breach that occurred on December 13, when two youths jumped into the
Lok Sabha chamber during Zero Hour, setting off smoke cans and raising slogans.
The probe earlier
revealed further that two pairs of shoes were made on a special order in
Lucknow, as the accused learned that the shoes of visitors to the new
Parliament were not checked and they could hide their smoke cans under their
footwear, sources said.