Amritpal moves HC for nod to attend Parliament session

In his plea, Khadoor Sahib MP says he runs the risk of disqualification as a member absent from parliamentary sittings for 60 days can lose membership; he has not attended House proceedings for 46 days

Chandigarh Khadoor Sahib member of Parliament (MP) Amritpal Singh, who is in preventive detention under the National Security Act (NSA), on Thursday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking directions to the Centre to release him to attend the forthcoming Parliament session.

The budget session of Parliament is set to commence on January 31. The Union Budget for 2025-26 will be presented on February 1, followed by discussions and deliberations in two parts, concluding on April 4, 2025.

In the plea filed on Thursday, Amritpal Singh has also sought directions to allow him to attend meetings with ministers so that he can take up issues related to people of his constituency.

He argued that his absence from Parliament deprives people of his constituency of their democratic rights of being represented in the Lok Sabha.

He has also argued that by not allowing him to attend Parliament, he is being deprived of his privileges as an MP and it is also against the right to equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution.

If a member is absent from parliamentary sittings continuously for 60 days, he/she loses membership. According to the petition, he has been absent for a total of 46 days. The plea is yet to be listed for hearing.

Amritpal Singh has also submitted a representation to the Amritsar deputy commissioner seeking permission to attend the Parliament sessions. However, no response has been received so far.

Amritpal won the June 2024 election from Khadoor Sahib constituency as an Independent. He has been in Dibrugarh Central Jail since his arrest along with nine others after a month-long chase on April 23, 2023. They were detained following a crackdown on his Waris Punjab De outfit on March 18, 2023. In April 2024, the Punjab government re-invoked the NSA against all of them.

Amritpal’s petition comes less than 10 days after radical Sikhs, including his father Tarsem Singh and Faridkot Independent MP Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa along with their supporters, floated the Shiromani Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) at a political conference in Mukstar on the sidelines of the annual Maghi Mela on January 14. A membership drive for the regional party is underway.