Delhi court rejects bail pleas of two accused in 2023 Parliament security breach case

Special Judge Kiran Bansal held that the statutory bar on bail under the UAPA applied, and that the two accused could not claim parity with co-accused granted bail by the High Court

A Delhi court has dismissed, for the second time, the regular bail pleas of two accused in the December 2023 Parliament security breach case.

In an order passed on Friday (November 13, 2026), Special Judge Kiran Bansal noted that the accused -- D. Manoranjan and Sagar Sharma -- sought bail citing long incarceration and parity with two co-accused who were granted bail by the Delhi High Court.

The judge underlined that the statutory bar on bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) applied in the present case.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the charges against the accused persons is prima facie true. Therefore, the court does not find it fit to grant regular bail to applicants Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma. The present bail applications stand dismissed," the judge said.

On July 2, 2025, the Delhi High Court granted bail to co-accused Neelam Raoliya, alias Neelam Azad, and Mahesh Kumawat.

"The grounds of parity are not available to the present accused persons," the judge said on Friday.

The judge observed that the High Court had noted that Ms. Raoliya stayed outside Parliament and Mr. Kumawat was not in Delhi that day.

"However, the present two accused persons had entered the main Parliament and jumped from the public gallery to the main hall of the Lok Sabha," the court said, adding that canisters "were concealed in the shoes and parliamentary proceedings were disrupted."

The order said: "There is a statutory bar under Section 43D(5) of the UA(P)A and the accused cannot be released on bail if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accusations against the accused persons are prima facie true."

Examining the chargesheet and supplementary chargesheets, the court said: "The allegations against the accused persons are grave and serious, as their acts had resulted in disrupting parliamentary proceedings and threatened the sovereignty and integrity of India."

The court noted that the accused chose the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack to commit the act. It also noted the allegation that the accused erased data from their phones and handed the devices to co-accused Lalit Jha for destruction.

The judge said bail cannot be granted solely on the ground of delay. "Needless to say, nothing observed herein shall have a bearing upon the merits of the case," the court said.

On December 13, 2023, in a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons, Mr. Sharma and Mr. Manoranjan, jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, unleashed yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by some MPs and watch-and-ward staff.

Around the same time, two other accused, Ms. Raoliya and Amol Dhanraj Shinde, also sprayed coloured gas from canisters outside Parliament, while shouting "tanashahi nahi chalegi" (dictatorship cannot go on).

Six persons -- Mr. Manoranjan, Mr. Sharma, Mr. Shinde, Ms. Raoliya, Mr. Jha and Mr. Kumawat -- are accused in the case.