The Punjab government has forwarded a written request of Amritpal Singh, detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail, to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in which the Khadoor Sahib MP-elect has sought temporary release or parole to take oath as a member of Parliament.
Amritpal’s legal adviser Imaan Singh Khara said on Tuesday that the plea by the radical Sikh leader, who registered a thumping victory in the Lok Sabha elections, was sent to the Punjab government through the jail superintendent under the NSA’s Section 15 on June 9.
The Dibrugarh jail superintendent had sent the letter to the Amritsar deputy commissioner, who forwarded it to the state government headquarters, which in turn urged the Speaker to allow Amritpal to take the oath.
Section 15 of the NSA deals with temporary release of a person detained by the government for any specified period either without conditions or upon such conditions specified in the direction as that person accepts, and may, at any time, cancel his release.
Rajdev Singh Khalsa, another lawyer of Amritpal Singh who meets him in the jail, said, “The Punjab home secretary has told us that he has forwarded the letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker. Once received, the Speaker can decide about the oath-taking within a 60-day period that starts from June 25. According to procedure, the Speaker takes the advice of the home department before taking a decision.”
{{/usCountry}}Rajdev Singh Khalsa, another lawyer of Amritpal Singh who meets him in the jail, said, “The Punjab home secretary has told us that he has forwarded the letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker. Once received, the Speaker can decide about the oath-taking within a 60-day period that starts from June 25. According to procedure, the Speaker takes the advice of the home department before taking a decision.”
{{/usCountry}}Highly placed sources in the Punjab government confirmed the development, which comes a day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) gave its consent for jailed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, known as Engineer Rashid, to take oath as a Lok Sabha member on July 5.
Rashid is in Tihar Jail since 2019 after being charged by the NIA in a terror-funding case. He defeated former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah by 2 lakh votes to win the Lok Sabha elections from the Baramulla seat as an Independent candidate.
After the NIA consent in the case of Rashid, all eyes are on Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal, who defeated Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira by 1.97 lakh votes to win the Khadoor Sahib seat.
Three of Amritpal’s aides and fellow detainees under NSA, Kulwant Singh Raoke, Bhagwant Singh, alias ‘Pradhan Mantri’ Bajeke, and Daljeet Singh Kalsi, have also announced their intention to contest the assembly by-elections from Punjab’s Barnala, Gidderbaha, and Dera Baba Nanak, respectively.