Jailed Amritpal Singh Moves Punjab & Haryana HC Challenging Detention under NSA

Jailed head of Waris Punjab De and Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha MP Amritpal Singh, who is currently detained in a prison in Dibrugarh district, Assam, under the National Security Act (NSA), has challenged his detention in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Amritpal Singh, who has been held in Dibrugarh Jail since April 2023, argues that his preventive detention is unlawful and excessive. The leader of the pro-Khalistani outfit Waris Punjab De is also accused in the Ajnala Police Station attack.

The detention order was initially issued in March 2023 following a provocative speech. Singh’s plea contends that his detention is based on social media posts with no significant impact on Punjab’s security. He claims that the District Magistrate of Amritsar overstepped their authority by issuing the detention order, asserting that only the Central or State Government could do so.

Represented by advocate Amar Jeet Singh and senior advocate RS Bains, Singh asserts that his right to represent his constituency has been violated and argues that his detention infringes on his constitutional rights. Amritpal Singh, who won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency as an independent candidate, is originally from Jallu Kheda village in Amritsar. He was recently granted a four-day custody parole and brought to Delhi to take the oath as a Lok Sabha member.

Before returning to Punjab in 2022 after the death of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, Singh lived in Dubai. After his return, he became the chief of Deep Sidhu’s pro-Khalistani organization, Waris Punjab De. Singh was arrested from Moga’s Rode village after staging a protest at the Ajnala police station on February 23, 2023, during which he and his supporters clashed with police personnel in an attempt to free one of his aides, who had been taken into custody for making inflammatory and pro-Khalistan statements.