HC directs Punjab govt to decide within a week incarcerated MP Amritpal Singh's plea on attending Parliament

Chandigarh, Nov 21 (PTI) The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday directed the Punjab government to decide within a week the representation filed by Khadoor Sahib MP and NSA detainee Amritpal Singh seeking temporary release to attend the upcoming winter session of Parliament beginning December 1.

According to Singh's counsel Imaan Singh Khara, a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry passed the direction after hearing the MP's petition.

Singh sought temporary release under the provisions of Section 15 of the National Security Act, 1980 (pertaining to the temporary release of the persons detained), to allow him to attend the Parliament session till December 19.

He had requested the court to direct the Union and state government authorities to permit his release on parole.

Singh is currently lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act.

The chief of Waris Punjab De group who styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was arrested in Moga's Rode village on April 23, 2023 following a manhunt of over a month.

The Khalistani sympathiser had escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, 2023 switching vehicles and changing appearances.

Punjab Police had launched the crackdown after the February 23, 2023 Ajnala incident in which Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, allegedly broke through barricades and barged into the police station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of his aides.

Singh had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as an independent and won from the Khadoor Sahib seat.

His detention was extended under the NSA in April even as his nine associates, who were also detained in the Assam jail, were brought back to Punjab.

These nine associates were arrested in connection with the 2023 Ajnala police station attack incident. PTI SUN VSD ZMN