Chandigarh, Dec 17: Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, detained under the National Security Act (NSA) and lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam, on Tuesday approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking parole or custody parole to attend Parliament, saying his continued detention has stalled development work in his constituency.
Appearing before a Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry through videoconferencing, Amritpal told the court that all work in his constituency had come to a standstill since his election and that he had been unable to raise core public issues such as floods, drug abuse and alleged fake encounters and gangster-related killings in Parliament.
In his first virtual court appearance in nearly three years, Amritpal addressed the Bench himself as lawyers were abstaining from work. He asserted that as an elected member of Parliament, he had a constitutional right to participate in parliamentary proceedings and raise issues concerning the people he represents, maintaining that the matter went beyond his personal liberty and involved the electorate’s voice.
The MP said he had repeatedly sought conditional bail or parole to attend Parliament, but no approval had been granted so far. He also expressed his willingness to furnish an undertaking on the issues he would speak on during the parliamentary session.
The Bench observed that if Amritpal chose to argue the matter himself, he would not be permitted to later seek an adjournment for arguments by his counsel, to which he agreed. The court also took note of the fact that senior advocate Anupam Gupta, appearing for the Punjab government, was yet to complete his submissions.
As the hearing remained inconclusive, the court adjourned the matter to Wednesday. The delay has narrowed the window for relief, with the winter session of Parliament scheduled to conclude on December 19.
The Punjab government has opposed the grant of parole, citing potential law-and-order concerns. The state argued that even a single speech by the MP in Parliament could create problems, given the privileges enjoyed by legislators.
Amritpal Singh, who won the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat as an Independent in the 2024 general elections with a margin of about 1.9 lakh votes, was administered the oath of office on July 5, 2024. He has been in detention since April 2023, following his arrest after a month-long manhunt in the wake of the Ajnala police station incident.
