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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday that the ongoing probe into the security breach in Lok Sabha will bring out all the details, amid the opposition's demand of action against BJP MP Prathap Simha for facilitating the entry passes for two persons who jumped into the chamber.

Joshi, however, noted that such passes are facilitated by MPs often on "goodwill".

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a serious view after three of its Karnataka legislators met Congress leaders for dinner recently. The three leaders are ST Somasekhar, Shivaram Hebbar, both MLAs, and H Vishwanath, a member of the legislative council.

Somashekar and Hebbar had jumped ship to BJP from Congress. Vishwanath, originally a Congressman, was in JD(S) as its state chief, when he defected to BJP in 2019. Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Thursday termed the incident a "serious matter".

Lalit Mohan Jha, the mastermind behind the Parliament security breach conspiracy case, was arrested by the Delhi Police after he reportedly surrendered before the Kartavya Path Police station on Thursday evening.

Lalit Jha had fled from the spot after making a video of the incident, the Delhi Police said.

In a major security breach, Sagar Sharma (26) and Manoranjan D (34) on Wednesday afternoon, jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour, released coloured smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by some MPs. Around the same time, Amol Shinde (25) and Neelam Devi (37) sprayed coloured smoke from canisters while shouting "tanashahi nahi chalegi" outside Parliament premises.

A Delhi Court on Wednesday refused to stay an order issued by the magistrate court summoning former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot to appear as an accused in the criminal defamation case filed against him by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for allegedly linking him and his family members in an ongoing corruption case involving the Sanjeevani Cooperation Credit Society.

The court, while dismissing Gehlot’s petition, observed that the orders passed by the magistrate court do not suffer from any illegality or impropriety, and that the allegations by the Congress leader appear to be made to obtain political mileage.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Wednesday (Dec 12) opposed the paid menstruation leave policy stating that the menstruation cycle was "not a handicap".

Irani's remarks came in response to a question asked by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) member in the upper house Manoj Kumar Jha on the menstrual hygiene policy in India.

“As a menstruating woman, menstruation and the menstruation cycle is not a handicap, it’s a natural part of women’s life journey…We should not propose issues where women are denied equal opportunities just because somebody who does not menstruate has a particular viewpoint towards menstruation,” she said in Rajya Sabha.

Last week, Irani, in response to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's question, had told Lok Sabha that there was no proposal made under the consideration of the government to make provision for paid menstrual leave mandatory for all workplaces.

“A small proportion of women/ girls suffer from severe dysmenorrhea or similar complaints, and most of these cases are manageable by medication,” she said in a written response on Wednesday that was submitted in the upper house.

"The issue of menstruation and its associated activities are surrounded by silence, often treated with shame and associated with social taboos that restrict mobility, freedom and access to normal activities for menstruating persons, and many a time leads to their harassment and social exclusion. It becomes even more sensitive when a girl/ menstruating person is unaware of the changes that she undergoes emotionally and physically while facing her menstrual cycle for the first time," she wrote.

Health ministry has formulated draft menstrual hygiene policy, says Irani

Irani on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had formulated a draft menstrual hygiene policy in consultation with stakeholders.

She also highlighted other initiatives taken by various ministries for the promotion of menstrual hygiene.

Under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao component of Mission Shakti, an umbrella scheme for safety, security and empowerment of women implemented by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, raising awareness about menstrual hygiene is one of the key areas, she added.

(With inputs from agencies)