No final call yet: High Court signals interim order in Amritpal custody matter
Amritpal Singh, who has been under preventive detention since April 2023, is currently lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam
A day after the Punjab Government sought permission to arrest and keep Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh in Dibrugarh jail following the expiry of his detention under the National Security Act, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday said it would “make some arrangement and pass order”, indicating that he would continue to remain lodged there.
Taking up the State’s plea against the Centre and other respondents, the Bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu indicated that an interim order would be passed to facilitate proceedings through virtual mode. “We’ll pass an interim order… make arrangement for all hearings … whether it’s remand hearing or arguments on charges, or consultation with the advocates… any counsel of his choice… that’ll be done on virtual platform,” the court observed, while adding that the petition would be kept pending.
The observations came during the course of the open court hearing and are only indicative of the Bench’s prima facie view. They cannot be construed as a conclusive expression of opinion in the matter. The Centre was represented in the matter by Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain and counsel Dheeraj Jain.
The State, on the previous date of hearing, had informed the Bench that the preventive detention under the NSA was coming to an end on April 23 and the State intended to arrest him and keep him lodged in Assam itself, citing intelligence inputs and security concerns.
Appearing before the Bench, the State’s counsel submitted: “We don’t want him in Punjab. We want to arrest him and keep him there. The trial will be conducted through video-conferencing,” the State counsel told the court
At the onset, the State counsel submitted that he was to be released under the NSA on April 23. “Now, the State is seeking (the court’s indulgence) because of intelligence inputs and other reasons. We want to arrest him and keep him at Dibrugarh itself.”
The State counsel added this was “only in the interest of the State” and with the consent by the Assam Government. On being queried by the Bench regarding the legal basis, the State referred to enabling provisions in the jail manual and added that the Assam Government had already granted its no-objection. “Yes, but the State of Assam has given us the no-objection for that… we are seeking the petition to be listed today, because on April 22 we have to go to arrest him there,” the counsel said.
Amritpal Singh, who has been under preventive detention since April 2023, is currently lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam. His detention under the NSA is scheduled to end on April 23, prompting the State to move the High Court for directions to ensure his continued custody through fresh arrest.
The Bench has already dismissed his challenge to his continued preventive detention under the National Security Act. It asserted that the grounds of preventive detention were clearly indicative of reasonable apprehension in the mind of the competent authority/District Magistrate—“based on subjective satisfaction founded upon objective material”—that there was all likelihood of public order and the State’s security of the State being prejudiced, if the petitioner was not preventively detained by the impugned order.
