Explain Amritpal's parole plea rejection: Court to Punjab govt

The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has directed the Punjab government to produce the ''foundational material'' that led to the rejection of jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh's parole plea to attend the Winter Session of Parliament.

The direction was issued by the bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry on Monday while hearing a plea by Amritpal, who challenged the state's decision not to give him parole to attend the Winter Session of Parliament.

The Punjab government had earlier rejected the representation of Amritpal for temporary release while citing law and order issues following reports from the Amritsar deputy commissioner and the Amritsar police.

On November 21, the high court had directed the Punjab government to decide within a week on Amritpal's representation seeking temporary release to attend the session.

Amritpal's counsel, Imaan Singh Khara, said the court directed Punjab to produce documents and provide reasons behind rejecting his representation for parole at the next hearing on December 8.

The state has been asked to produce all documents, he said.

The counsel also cited the case of Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid, who was permitted to attend the Winter Session.

The counsel for the MP argued that the lawmaker just wanted to discharge his parliamentary duties in custody.

The state counsel opposed the parole, saying allowing the Khadoor Sahib MP any platform, physical or virtual, carried ''grave risks.'' The 32-year-old leader is currently lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act.

Amritpal, the chief of the Waris Punjab De group, who styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was arrested in Moga's Rode village on April 23, 2023, following a manhunt of over a month.

The Khalistani sympathiser had escaped the police net in Jalandhar district on March 18, 2023, switching vehicles and changing appearances.

The Punjab Police had launched the crackdown after the February 23, 2023, Ajnala incident in which Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, allegedly broke through barricades and barged into the police station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of his aides.

Singh had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as an independent and won from the Khadoor Sahib seat.

His detention was extended under the NSA in April, even as his nine associates, who were also detained in the Assam jail, were brought back to Punjab.

The nine were arrested in connection with the 2023 Ajnala Police Station attack.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)