Amritpal Singh moves high court against third preventive detention under NSA

Lok Sabha member from Khadoor Sahib, Amritpal Singh, has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the legality of the third successive detention order issued against him on April 17 under the National Security Act, alleging absence of any credible material linking him with prejudicial activities.

The petition filed through counsel Arshdeep Singh Cheema, Imaan Singh Khara and Harjot Singh Mann claims that the detention is “arbitrary, void of jurisdiction and violative of constitutional safeguards under Articles 21 and 22”.

It submits that Amritpal Singh has remained under preventive detention since April 2023 despite the absence of any supporting material for continued incarceration.

The case is yet to come up for hearing. An advance copy of the petition has been furnished to the Union of India, along with other respondents and counsel, including Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain.

The plea states that the latest detention order rests solely on an FIR registered on October 10, 2024. Amritpal Singh contends that his name did not appear in the FIR and his nomination was introduced later through a DDR dated October 18, 2024. It relies on the final report filed under Section 173 CrPC, asserting that “there was not an iota of evidence” against him linking him to the incident alleged in the FIR. The petition claims that despite this, he is continuing to be confined in Central Jail, Dibrugarh.

The petition rejects the allegation that Amritpal Singh was associated with anti-national elements or was part of any design to physically eliminate individuals. It asserts that such imputations are unsupported by any material.

The plea says that Amritpal Singh prior to his detention had been engaged social reform initiatives, including youth anti-addiction programmes, campaigns against drug abuse, and community-oriented interventions through his organisation Waris Punjab De. His speeches, the petition states, focused on Sikh values, cultural identity and constitutional protections rather than separatism or violence.

The petition further asserts that preventive detention cannot be sustained merely on the strength of pending criminal cases, particularly when regular criminal proceedings are already underway before competent courts. It states that each FIR is being adjudicated independently and no overarching pattern or imminent threat has been shown that could justify the invocation of the National Security Act.

It adds that the grounds of detention were not supplied to the petitioner within the statutory period, resulting in denial of his constitutional right to make an effective representation against the detention order, as guaranteed under Article 22(5) of the Constitution.