Chandigarh, Feb 2 (PTI) The Punjab government has declined jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh’s application for temporary release to attend the Budget session of Parliament, citing “serious threat to the security of the state and the maintenance of public order”.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court last month had directed the Punjab government to decide within seven working days on the representation of Amritpal, seeking temporary release to attend the Budget session.
Amritpal’s counsel Imaan Singh Khara said they received the reply of the state government on the application of the Khadoor Sahib MP on Monday.
The Budget session commenced on January 28 and will continue till February 13 in the first phase. The second phase will take place from March 9 to April 2.
A February 2 order of the additional chief secretary (home) cited comments of Amritsar Rural senior superintendent of police and a letter of the Amritsar district magistrate noted, “Both the said officers have opposed the temporary release of Amritpal Singh for the purpose of attending the Budget session of Parliament in view of serious threat/prejudice to the security of the state and maintenance of public order.” The order also cited a ruling of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court which “held that a member of Parliament in detention has no constitutional right to attend session(s) of Parliament and can claim no special status higher than that of an ordinary citizen”.
Declining the temporary release of Amritpal Singh under Section 15 of the National Security Act, 1980, the order said it took into consideration the entire record, kept in mind the gravity and enormity of the grounds of detention, and his conduct, necessitating his continuous and uninterrupted detention for the maximum period of 12 months with effect from April 23, 2025 “in the interest of the security of the State and the maintenance of Public Order, and the absence of any legally enforceable right to attend the session(s) of Parliament while in detention”.
Amritpal had moved the high court, seeking parole to attend the Budget session of Parliament.
On January 23, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, had disposed of the writ petition, with a direction to the home secretary, department of home affairs and justice, Punjab government, to decide the application of the petitioner, within a period of seven working days.
The outcome of the representation by Amritpal (33) should also be communicated forthwith to the petitioner as well as his counsel, the bench had ordered.
According to the plea, Amritpal wanted to highlight various matters, including the 2025 floods in Punjab, the rampant rise of drug abuse in the state, and developmental issues of his Khadoor Sahib constituency in Parliament.
He had earlier sought permission to attend the Winter session of Parliament. However, his plea became infructuous as the arguments in the matter remained inconclusive by the time the session concluded.
Amritpal is currently lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the NSA.
Amritpal, the chief of the Waris Punjab De group who styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was arrested in Moga’s Rode village on April 23, 2023, following a manhunt of over a month.
The Khalistani sympathiser escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, 2023, switching vehicles and changing appearances.
The Punjab Police had launched the crackdown after the February 23, 2023, Ajnala incident in which Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, allegedly broke through barricades and barged into a police station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of his aides.
Singh had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as an independent and won from Khadoor Sahib.
His detention was extended under the NSA in April 2025, even as his nine associates, who were also detained in the Assam jail, were brought back to Punjab. These nine associates were arrested in connection with the 2023 Ajnala police station attack incident. PTI CHS VSD KSS KSS
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