Detained under the National Security Act and lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail, MP Amritpal Singh on Tuesday told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that all work in his parliamentary constituency had come to a standstill and that his detention was preventing him from raising core public issues — floods, drugs and alleged fake encounters — in Parliament.
Appearing before the Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry through videoconferencing, Amritpal chose to address the court himself in view of the lawyers’ abstention from work. He submitted that NSA detention had completely stalled the functioning of his constituency.
The Khadoor Sahib MP added that he had sought conditional bail for raising the issues, but it had not been granted so far. He maintained that the issue was not confined to him personally, but concerned the electorate he represented, whose parliamentary voice was required to be heard.
Dressed in a white kurta and a blue turban, Amritpal Singh spoke in a mix of English and Punjabi, while making it clear that his intent was to discharge his constitutional role by participating in Parliament and raising pressing issues affecting his constituency.
“In the democratic system of India, an elected representative has the right to raise issues before Parliament. But the NSA imposed on me has been extended to third year… All these issues need to be raised before Parliament,” he told the court.
The Bench indicated its willingness to hear Amritpal on the matter, but made it clear that the MP would have to unequivocally state that he would not later seek an adjournment for his counsel to argue too. Amritpal agreed to the condition.
The Bench took note of the fact that senior advocate Anupam Gupta, appearing for the Punjab Government, could not complete his arguments on the previous date of hearing and was required to be heard further. In these circumstances, the matter was adjourned and directed to be taken up again in the post-lunch session for further hearing. Later in the day, the court was also told on the MP’s behalf that he was prepared to furnish an undertaking regarding the issues he would be speaking on.
The hearing on his plea remained inconclusive even today. As a result, time continues to run out fast for the Lok Sabha member to secure parole to attend the winter session of Parliament, which is scheduled to conclude on December 19. The matter, now listed for hearing on Wednesday, leaves a narrowing window of barely two working days even if relief is eventually granted