Decide Amritpal parole plea in a week: HC to Punjab

Two days after Lok Sabha member Amritpal Singh moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking temporary release from jail to attend the winter session of Parliament from December 1 to 19, a Division Bench today directed the state government to decide his plea “within a week” “preferably” before the session commenced.

“The present petition stands disposed of with a direction to the Home Secretary, Department of Home Affairs and Justice, to decide the application dated November 13 already filed by the petitioner within a week from today, preferably before the commencement of the winter session of Parliament and to communicate the order to the petitioner,” the Bench said.

Detained at Dibrugarh Central Jail under the National Security Act (NSA), the Khadoor Sahib MP had invoked Section 15 of the NSA, which empowers the competent authority to grant parole to a detainee in exceptional circumstances.

The Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry questioned senior advocate RS Bains, appearing for Amritpal, about his preparation for the session. “What is your preparation? How will you participate? What is your research work? You are talking about your rights. Now, we will also talk about your duty as an MP. Which item are you going to discuss there and speak on? Or will he just be a silent spectator,” asked Chief Justice Nagu.

“He was very vocal when he was free and that is why he was detained. His constituency is under floods--800 villages are facing misery,” said Bains.

Appearing before the Bench on behalf of the Speaker and the Centre, Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain said only the competent authority in the state could grant permission to Amritpal to attend the Parliament session. He said the Lok Sabha Secretariat had written a letter to Amritpal on November 20, saying any detained member had to seek permission from the detaining authority for attending the Parliament.

Bains said the representation for temporary release had been made to all authorities, and that a formal request was sent to the Amritsar District Magistrate and the Punjab Home Secretary on November 13.

Additional Advocate-General Chanchal Singla, on the other hand, argued that Amritpal had only made a representation instead of submitting an application in proper format. The Bench, in turn, asked the state to treat the representation as application.

Amritpal’s plea, filed through counsel Imaan Singh Khara, had stated that despite being in preventive detention since April 2023, the petitioner was elected from the Khadoor Sahib constituency in the 2024 General Election with nearly 4 lakh votes and continued to represent about 19 lakh constituents. He has sought a mandamus directing the Union and state authorities to permit his release on parole, or in the alternative, to arrange his personal attendance in the House during the session.

The petition recounted that the third detention order was issued against him on April 17 this year while he was lodged in Dibrugarh jail. The advisory board subsequently was of the opinion that sufficient cause existed for his continued detention, following which the detention was confirmed on June 24. Representations seeking parole were submitted on November 13, but these are yet to be decided.

Asserting that attending Parliament was a constitutional duty, the petitioner has urged the court to direct the authorities to decide his representation in a time-bound manner. He also sought any other appropriate relief warranted by the “peculiar facts and circumstances” of the case.