No parole to Amritpal for Parl winter sitting

The Punjab government has decided not to grant parole to Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, who is currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA), to attend the winter session of Parliament, an official privy to the decision said. Amritpal has been lodged in the high-security Dibrugarh jail in Assam since his arrest in April 2023.

The Punjab government has decided not to grant parole to Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, who is currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA), to attend the winter session of Parliament, an official privy to the decision said. Amritpal has been lodged in the high-security Dibrugarh jail in Assam since his arrest in April 2023.

The Punjab government has decided not to grant parole to Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, who is currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA), to attend the winter session of Parliament, an official privy to the decision said. Amritpal has been lodged in the high-security Dibrugarh jail in Assam since his arrest in April 2023.

“Deputy commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh has rejected Amritpal’s parole application, citing potential law and order issues after receiving a report from the district police. A detailed order has been passed in this regard,” the official, who didn’t wish to be named, added.

The DC, or any other government official, could not be contacted for comments.

This is the second time that the Punjab government has declined parole to the jailed MP. So far, Amritpal has not attended a single session of Parliament.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on November 21 directed the Punjab government to decide on Amritpal’s representation seeking temporary release to attend the winter session of Parliament within a week.

In his petition, invoking Section 15 of the NSA, which empowers the competent authority to grant parole to a detainee in exceptional circumstances, Amritpal sought interim release from jail to attend the upcoming Parliament session from December 1 to 15. In his plea, the radical Sikh leader argued that Parliament is a constitutional body, and as its member representing Khadoor Sahib, he should be allowed to participate in the proceedings.

Amritpal, who styled himself after slain militant preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was arrested in Moga’s Rode village on April 23, 2023, after a month-long hunt. The Khalistan sympathiser had escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, 2023, switching vehicles and changing appearances. Punjab Police launched the crackdown on him after he and his armed supporters laid siege to the Ajnala police station on the outskirts of Amritsar on February 23, 2023, to secure the release of his aides.