P&H High Court directs Punjab to decide on Amritpal Singh's plea to attend Parliament

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday directed the Punjab government to take a decision on Member of Parliament (MP) Amritpal Singh's representation seeking permission to attend the winter session of parliament in December.

The MP from Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency is currently under preventive detention in Assam's Dibrugarh. He has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) since April 2023 on orders of District Magistrate Amritsar; he was elected to Lok Sabha with over 4 Lakh votes in 2024 General Elections while in detention.

Singh has been accused of championing the cause of "Khalistani separatism" and therefore, posing a threat to the security of the State and maintenance of public order. The grounds of his detention allege that he was conspiring with anti-national elements, gangsters and terrorists to physically eliminate certain people.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry today directed the State Home Secretary to treat Singh's representation for attending the parliament as an application under NSA.

"The present petition stands disposed of with the direction to [State of Punjab] to decide the application dated 13.11.2025 within a period of one week, preferably before the commencement of the winter session of the Parliament and communicate the order to the petitioner," the Court ordered.

During the hearing of Singh's petition seeking permission to attend the parliament, the Court asked whether he had made any preparations for his participation in Lok Sabha.

"You are talking about rights, we will also talk about your duties as a Member of Parliament. What research have you done? What item have you prepared? Which item are you going to discuss and speak on? Or he will just be a silent spectator," Chief Justice Nagu asked.

Singh's counsel said,

"No, he was very vocal when he was free, that is why he was detained."

In the petition, Singh submitted that he wants to represent the people of his constituency before the parliament and highlight the issues faced by them.

Appearing for Singh, Senior Advocate RS Bains submitted that he has applied for temporary release under Section 15 of NSA but no decision has been taken.

"They have a provision for temporary release," Bains added.

When the Court asked about Singh's preparation for the winter session of parliament, Bains said he has no instructions as Singh is detained far away.

Continuing with his submissions, Bains referred to the case of Baramulla MP Engineer Sheikh Rashid, who has been allowed to attend parliament under custody on orders passed by courts in Delhi.

In response to Singh's plea, Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain said that only the competent authority in State can grant permission to Singh to attend the Parliament.

Bains said the representation for temporary release has been made to all authorities including the District Magistrate and State government. A counsel for Punjab government argued that Singh has only made a representation and not submitted a proper application.

However, the Court asked whether there exists a format for the application. The State government counsel conceded there is no such format. The Court observed the State can treat the representation as an application and ask for more documents in case that is needed. The plea was then disposed of.

The Supreme Court had recently declined to entertain a similar plea filed by Singh and asked him to move the High Court. His petition challenging the validity of NSA is pending before the High Court