The Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Punjab government to decide within seven working days on jailed MP Amritpal Singh’s plea for temporary release to attend Parliament’s budget session. The order mandates intimation to the petitioner and counsel.
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has instructed the Punjab government to make a decision within seven working days regarding jailed MP Amritpal Singh’s request for temporary release to attend the upcoming budget session of Parliament.
A Division Bench led by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Archana Puri has disposed of the writ petition, directing the Punjab home secretary to make a decision regarding the petitioner’s application from January 17 within a week. The court also ordered that the outcome of this decision be communicated promptly to both the petitioner and his legal counsel.
The budget session is set to begin on January 28 and will last until February 13 during its first phase, followed by a second phase from March 9 to April 2.
During the plea hearing, the high court noted that the preventive detention order was issued on April 17, 2025, by the Amritsar district magistrate, an officer under the state government. Therefore, the state government is the competent authority to address the type of request presented by the petitioner, as stated by the high court.
The authority to grant temporary release under Section 15 of the National Security Act, 1980, belongs to the ‘appropriate government’ as defined in Section 2(1)(a) of the Act.
Currently held in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act since April 2023, the Khadoor Sahib MP is seeking parole in accordance with Section 15 of the National Security Act, 1980, which pertains to the temporary release of detained individuals, to participate in the Parliament session.
According to the plea, Amritpal intends to address various concerns, including the 2025 floods in Punjab, the significant increase in drug abuse within the state, and developmental challenges facing his Khadoor Sahib constituency in Parliament.
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Factual Background of the Case
According to the state, Amritpal, along with a large armed entourage carrying swords and firearms, allegedly stormed the premises to secure the release of one of his associates. The Punjab government claimed this incident amounted to a direct defiance of state authority and highlighted the inadequacy of ordinary criminal law in addressing the situation.
The government further stated that intelligence agencies had received credible inputs suggesting that Amritpal and his associates had drawn up a “hit list” of police officers and other perceived opponents. The existence of such a list, it was argued, reflected an imminent threat to public officials and overall public safety, justifying the need for preventive detention.
The Punjab government also accused Amritpal of deliberately radicalising youth through provocative speeches and extensive use of social media, glorifying violence and portraying himself as an alternative centre of authority. These activities, the state alleged, were intended to reignite separatist tendencies and weaken the sovereignty and integrity of India.
Amritpal, who leads the Waris Punjab De group and models himself after the late Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was apprehended in Moga’s Rode village on April 23, 2023, following a manhunt lasting over a month. He had evaded law enforcement in Jalandhar district on March 18, 2023, changing vehicles and appearances to escape capture.
The Punjab Police initiated a crackdown following the February 23, 2023, Ajnala incident, where Singh and his supporters, some armed with swords and guns, allegedly breached barricades and entered a police station on the outskirts of Amritsar, leading to a clash with police over the release of his aides.
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Singh contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate and secured victory from Khadoor Sahib.
Winter session: Previously, he had also sought permission to attend the Winter session of Parliament, but this plea became irrelevant as the arguments remained unresolved by the time the session concluded last month.
The Bench acknowledged that effective hearings could not occur on December 15, 16, and 17, 2025, due to lawyers’ abstention from work. Additionally, it documented the information provided by the petitioner’s counsel that the Winter Session of Parliament was set to conclude on December 18, 2025.
Since the arguments from respondents remained unfinished on December 15 and the last session was approaching, the Bench concluded that the matter had “virtually become infructuous.”
For upcoming Budget Session: After being absent from Parliament’s Winter Session, detained MP Amritpal Singh again approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, requesting permission to attend the upcoming Budget Session.
His detention was extended under the NSA in April 2025, even as nine of his associates, who were also held in the Assam jail, were returned to Punjab. These associates were arrested in connection with the 2023 Ajnala police station attack incident.