Amritpal Singh likely to take oath as Lok Sabha member on June 5

Radical pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh.

Controversial pro-Khalistan leader and newly elected Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh is set to take oath as a Lok Sabha member on July 5 after state and central agencies have cleared the decks for his swearing-in.

According to a top Punjab government official, Amritpal, who is detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail, is likely to be airlifted to Delhi from Dibrugarh.

Notably, the Punjab government had a couple of days ago forwarded a request to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, in which the Khadoor Sahib MP-elect had sought temporary release or parole to take oath as a Member of Parliament.

“Everything required for Amritpal to take oath as MP is complete. He will take oath on July 5 and will bring brought back to Dibrugarh Jail,” the top state government functionary quoted above said.

Amritpal’s legal adviser Imaan Singh Khara on Tuesday said that the plea by the radical Sikh leader, who registered a thumping victory in the Lok Sabha elections, was sent to the Punjab government through the jail superintendent under the NSA’s Section 15 on June 9.

The Dibrugarh jail superintendent had sent the letter to the Amritsar deputy commissioner, who forwarded it to the state government headquarters, which in turn urged the Speaker to allow Amritpal to take oath.

Section 15 of the NSA deals with temporary release of a person detained by the government for any specified period either without conditions or upon such conditions specified in the direction as that person accepts, and may, at any time, cancel his release.

Rajdev Singh Khalsa, another lawyer of Amritpal Singh who meets him in the jail, said, “The Punjab home secretary told us that he had forwarded the letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker. Once received, the Speaker can decide about the oath-taking within a 60-day period, starting June 25. According to the procedure, the Speaker takes the advice of the home department before taking a decision.”

Highly placed sources in the Punjab government confirmed the development, which comes a day after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) gave its consent for jailed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, known as Engineer Rashid, to take oath as a Lok Sabha member on July 25.

Rashid has been in Delhi’s Tihar jail since 2019 after being charged by the NIA in a terror-funding case. He defeated former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah by 2 lakh votes to win the Lok Sabha elections from the Baramulla seat as an Independent candidate.

After the NIA consent in Rashid’s case, all eyes are on Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal, who defeated Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira by 1.97 lakh votes to win the Khadoor Sahib seat.

Three of Amritpal’s aides and fellow detainees under NSA, Kulwant Singh Raoke, Bhagwant Singh, alias ‘Pradhan Mantri’ Bajeke, and Daljeet Singh Kalsi, have also announced their intention to contest the assembly by-elections from Punjab’s Barnala, Gidderbaha, and Dera Baba Nanak, respectively.

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