Khalistani activist and jailed MP Amritpal Singh appeared on Tuesday (16th December) before the Punjab and Haryana High Court through video conference during the hearing of his parole plea.
The Khadoor Sahib MP appeared before the Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry to argue his parole plea to take part in the winter session of the Parliament, which is nearing its end. As the winter session of the Parliament ends in 3 days, on 19th December, Singh has a limited window to seek the relief.
Singh had approached the High Court against the Punjab government’s order refusing him parole. A writ petition was filed before the High Court by Singh, who is incarcerated in Assam’s Dibrugarh Central Jail under the National Security Act (NSA).
In his writ, he sought the quashing of the Punjab government order, which rejected his application for temporary release/parole under Section 15 of the NSA. He sought a direction from the Union of India and the Punjab government to allow his release on parole from December 1 to December 19, 2025, for the Winter Session of Parliament and to make arrangements for his personal attendance in the House.
The Punjab government has opposed his parole plea, emphasising that once the Khalistan supporter enters Parliament, the judiciary or the executive would not be able to regulate, restrict, or precondition what he speaks on the floor of the Lok Sabha. Senior Advocate Anupam Gupta, appearing for the Punjab government, pointed out that any undertaking by Singh regarding his speech in the Parliament would be legally unenforceable.
Earlier this year, Amritpal Singh launched his political party called Shiromani Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De). He was arrested in April 2023 under the National Security Act and has since been lodged in a jail in Assam. In 2022, he became a popular name in Punjab after being appointed as the head of a political group named ‘Waris Punjab De’. Singh usually dressed similarly to Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and was linked with pro-Khalistani activities. He was arrested by the police after a month-long manhunt. He was implicated in the Ajnala police station attack in which police officers were assaulted by several armed men.
Amritpal Singh Lok Sabha elections last year from the Khadoor Sahib constituency while in jail. He was granted a 4-day parole to take the oath as a member of Parliament. Singh had secured 4,04,430 votes, which translated to 38.62% vote share.
