The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Punjab government to take a call within a week on the representation submitted by Khadoor Sahib MP and NSA detainee Amritpal Singh, who is seeking temporary release to attend the winter session of Parliament starting December 1.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry issued the direction on Friday after hearing the petition filed by Singh. His counsel, Imaan Singh Khara, told the court that the MP has invoked Section 15 of the National Security Act, 1980, which allows temporary release of detainees under certain conditions.
Singh has sought permission to attend the full duration of the winter session, which is scheduled to run till December 19. He has requested that the Union and Punjab governments be directed to consider his request for parole to enable him to be present in Parliament.
Amritpal Singh, chief of the Waris Punjab De outfit and a self-styled follower of slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, is currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act. He was arrested on April 23, 2023 in Moga’s Rode village after eluding police for over a month by constantly switching vehicles and altering his appearance.
The Punjab Police had launched a massive crackdown after the February 23, 2023 Ajnala incident, where Singh and his supporters—several carrying swords and guns—broke through police barricades and stormed the Ajnala police station on the outskirts of Amritsar to demand the release of one of his aides. Nine of his associates, also detained under the NSA and initially sent to Dibrugarh jail, have since been brought back to Punjab in connection with the same case.
Despite being in detention, Amritpal Singh contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib as an independent candidate and won. His detention under the NSA was extended in April this year.
The state government is now required to decide his representation for temporary release within a week, following the High Court’s direction.
