Detained under the National Security Act and lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail, MP Amritpal Singh told the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday 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 – on the floor of 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 parliamentary constituency. The Khadoor Sahib MP added that he had sought conditional bail toraise the issues, but it had not been granted so far. Amritpal maintained that the issue was not confined to him personally but concerned the electorate he represented, whose parliamentary voice needed to be heard.
Dressed in a white kurta and a blue turban, Amritpal Singh spoke in a mix of English and Punjabi, 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 its third year… All these issues need to be raised before Parliament,” he told the Bench.
The Bench indicated its willingness to hear Amritpal on the matter but made it clear that he would have to unequivocally state that he would not later seek an adjournment for his counsel to argue. Amritpal agreed to the condition.
The Bench took note of the fact that senior advocate Anupam Gupta, appearing for the State of Punjab, could not complete his arguments on the previous hearing date and was required to be heard further. In these circumstances, the matter was adjourned and directed to be taken up again at 2 p.m. in the post-lunch session for further hearing.