Chandigarh :
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today could not take up Lok Sabha MP Amritpal Singh’s plea for parole to attend the ongoing winter session of Parliament due to the Bar’s continued abstention from work. The case has now been adjourned to December 18, leaving a very narrow window before the session concludes on December 19.
The urgency of the matter was highlighted in court as Chief Justice Sheel Nagu repeatedly called for the advocates, but none appeared. The Bench noted that the plea risked being rendered infructuous, although it also mentioned the possibility of the parliamentary session being extended.
Amritpal Singh, who has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) since April 2023 and lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail, had appeared via video-conferencing on December 16 due to the lawyers’ absence. Addressing the court, he stated that his detention has brought work in his constituency to a standstill and prevented him from raising key public issues, including floods, drugs, and alleged fake encounters, in Parliament.
The issue is not about me alone. It concerns the electorate I represent. Their parliamentary voice is not being heard,” Singh told the court, asserting that his request for conditional release was solely to discharge his constitutional duties as an elected representative.
The parole plea will now be heard on December 18, just a day before the winter session is scheduled to end, while the MP remains incarcerated in distant Dibrugarh.
