Punjab & Haryana High Court Junks MP Amritpal Singh’s Plea Against NSA Detention

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday dismissed Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh’s plea challenging his continued detention under National Security Act (NSA).

Amritpal, a pro-Khalistan Sikh radical leader, has been lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under NSA since April 2023. He was booked for leading a large number of his supporters to Amritsar’s Ajnala police station on February 23, 2023, vandalising it and injuring several police personnel for the release of one of his supporters. He was booked under NSA and several other charges and nabbed on April 23, 2023. He fought and won the 2024 Lok Sabha election while in jail, with a massive margin.

The Bench headed by chief justice Sheel Nagu observed in the open court while pronouncing the order that it was clear the impugned order of preventive detention passed against the petitioner is immune from powers of judicial review. With this observation, the court rejected his plea.

Amritpal’s counsel claimed that Amritpal Singh had remained under preventive detention since April 2023 despite the absence of any supporting material for continued incarceration and that prior to his detention, he was engaged in social initiatives including anti-addiction programmes and drives against drugs.

On state government’s behalf, the senior advocate Anupam Gupta held that there were two principal grounds of the detention – the existence of a 15-member ``hit list’’ and the petitioner’s alleged proximity to designated terrorists including the individuals notified under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

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The court also agreed to take up for hearing a plea by the Punjab government seeking permission to arrest Amritpal in Assam and continue his custody in Dibrugarh jail. The state informed the court that the preventive detention against Amritpal under NSA was to end on April 23 and the state intended to arrest him and keep him lodged in Assam itself in the wake of intelligence inputs and security concerns.