E-Paper
Decide Amritpal’s plea to attend parl within 7 days, HC tells Punjab
The Punjab High Court has ordered the Punjab government to decide on jailed MP Amritpal Singh's request to attend Parliament's budget session within seven days.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday directed the Punjab government to decide within seven working days the representation of jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh seeking permission to attend the budget session of Parliament.
Singh –– currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA) –– had filed a plea with the high court, stating that he had submitted a representation before Punjab authorities on January 17 seeking parole to attend the budget session. The upcoming Parliament session is scheduled to begin on January 28 and conclude on April 2, with a break in-between.
In his plea, Singh said his detention order is “politically motivated”, passed with the mala fide intent of silencing the Waris Punjab De chief, an elected MP representing 1.9 million constituents. His continued detention undermines democratic rights and the will of the electorate, the petition added.
“The present petitioner wants to represent the people of his Khadoor Sahib constituency before the Parliament and also to highlight the various issues faced by the people of his constituency in the true spirit of democracy and in consonance with the Constitution of India,” the plea said.
Singh’s petition was taken up by a bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Archana Puri, which disposed of it with directions to the Punjab home secretary to decide the representation within seven working days. A detailed order is awaited.
Singh won the Khadoor Sahib seat in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. He has been detained at Dibrugarh jail in Assam following his arrest in 2023.The lawmaker had previously sought parole to attend the winter session of Parliament.
