Lalit Jha, the alleged mastermind behind this week’s shocking security breach in Parliament, has been remanded to seven days of police custody by a Delhi court. Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur, who had earlier ordered seven days of police custody for four others arrested in connection with the case, issued the ruling today.
Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh, representing the Delhi Police, had sought an extended fifteen days of custody for Jha. However, the judge at the Patiala House Court decided to grant seven days of police custody.
The incident unfolded during Lok Sabha proceedings on Wednesday when two individuals, identified as Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D, were seen entering the chamber from the visitors’ gallery carrying canisters emitting smoke. Prompt action by the Delhi Police led to their immediate arrest.
Two additional individuals, Amol Shinde and Neelam, were apprehended outside Parliament while reportedly protesting with yellow smoke. All four were taken into custody earlier this week, while the alleged mastermind, Lalit Jha, had been evading capture until his arrest by the police on Thursday.
Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh provided insight into the ongoing investigation, stating, “He was arrested last night. He disclosed about his involvement and how he is the mastermind of the entire conspiracy and what was their motive. We need him to investigate how the conspiracy was hatched and how they got funding. This will require detailed investigation… We need to recover the mobile phones.”
In response, the judge replied, “We will give seven days remand,” thereby ordering that Lalit Jha be held in police custody for a week.
As Jha did not have legal representation, he was represented by public legal aid counsel during today’s remand hearing.
During a previous hearing, the prosecution had alleged that the accused had established a group known as the ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’ and had disseminated social media posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a ‘proclaimed offender.’ Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Srivastava had cited social media posts and pamphlets allegedly created by the accused, in which they had declared Prime Minister Modi a ‘missing’ person and offered a reward from a Swiss Bank for locating him.
Importantly, all the accused individuals are facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for their alleged involvement in the Parliament security breach.
