Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday dismissed as infructuous, the habeas corpus plea claiming that Amritpal Singh was in the "illegal custody" of the police.
Pro-Khalistan radical preacher Amritpal, who also headed "Waris Punjab De" (WPD) outfit, and who was on the run since March 18, was arrested under National Security Act (NSA) outside a gurdwara in village Rode of Moga district early Sunday morning.
Imaan Singh Khara, the legal advisor of WPD, had moved the habeas corpus plea on March 19, a day after police had launched a crackdown against Amritpal and his WPD supporters. He, however, had given police a slip and remained a fugitive till April 23. The habeas corpus plea was, however, filed seeking production of Amritpal from the alleged illegal custody of the police.
Amritpal detained or arrested?
It may be recalled that in the earlier hearings, the Punjab government had maintained that Amritpal had neither been detained nor arrested and the high court had asked the petitioner to present any evidence that he was in illegal custody of the police.
Khara told newspersons after the hearing that as Amritpal had been detained under NSA and sent to Dibrugarh jail, the said petition had been dismissed as infructuous.
Next hearing on May 1
Meanwhile, the bench of Justice N S Shekhawat also fixed May 1 as the next date in the matter of pleas filed by relatives of several aides of Amritpal, namely, Daljit Singh Kalsi, Gurmit Singh, Kulwant Singh, Varinder Singh Fauji, Bhagwant Singh Bajeke and Basant Singh, seeking quashing of the detention orders.
In the previous hearing in the matter, the Punjab government had informed the high court that Daljit Singh Kalsi who was a close associate of Amritpal, was supporting the latter in propagating the radical ideology as well as abetting to wage a war against the state for a separate nation - Khalistan. The Punjab government had further told the high court that Kalsi was arrested under NSA following the due process of law.
