Hearing on Amritpal Singh’s plea on Feb 25

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The petition was placed before the Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nago and Justice Sumeet Goel.

Amritpal Singh, the MP from Khadoor Sahib and leader of Waris Punjab De organisation, is currently detained in the Dibrugarh Central Jail under the National Security Act.

He had filed a petition seeking permission to attend parliamentary sessions, arguing that his prolonged absence violated his constitutional rights and left his constituency unrepresented.

Amritpal Singh emphasised that an absence exceeding 60 days could result in his seat being declared vacant, affecting nearly 19 lakh constituents. He also requested authorisation to meet with officials and ministers regarding the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme to address local developmental projects.

In his plea, Amritpal submitted that he formally requested permission from the Lok Sabha Speaker on November 30 last to attend the parliamentary session and was informed of a 46-day absence from sittings. Despite representations to the Deputy Commissioner/District Magistrate, he had not received a response, prompting him to seek judicial intervention, he argued.

Amritpal Singh contended that his detention and resultant absence were involuntary, constituting forced exclusion that undermined the democratic process and the representation of his constituents.